I am thinking of buying a new car. I have the cash to buy it, but the salesman says that if I agree to PCP the dealer contributes £4,000 so I should opt for that and then exercise my right to withdraw and pay the finance company off.

Any PCP agreement comes with a 14-day right to cancel with no penalty. The finance company will then invoice you for the value of what was originally financed (not the value of the car), so you have to pay up straight away.

As the deposit contribution (which is basically a discount, although it’s preferable for the manufacturer to arrange it as a deposit contribution) is money you don’t have to pay before delivery, there’s no realistic way they can make you pay it afterwards. The only way they can try is if the vehicle contract specifically says that the deposit contribution is subject to maintaining the PCP for a period of time. In practical terms, this doesn’t usually happen.

Essentially, they are banking on most customers preferring to keep their money in the bank and not cancel the finance.

Ok so a bit long winded but looking for some
PCP advice. My son’s papa took out a PCP deal on a new car for him. Owner and registered keeper. After an issue with a parking Ickes he made him change the registered keeper to himself via the DVLA. Now he thinks that the Guatanteed Future Value on the car in the deal is defunct based in the fact there has now been 2 registered keepers when the deal stated 1. This means he is having to make up the gap of £3,500 in order to change his car. Haven’t broached with the finance company as apparently these ‘Accomodation’ deals are frowned upon. Anyone any advice?

Hi Katie. You are correct, it sounds like this was an accommodation deal if the finance agreement is not in the same name as the V5 document.

If your son is part-exchanging the car or selling it privately, it shouldn’t make a great difference to the car’s value. However, it does give the finance company an excuse not to honour the original GMFV because the contract has been breached.

Hi
I took out a PCP in July 2015 for 3 years. Cost of vehicle was £19921.00, I paid £2480.23 of a deposit and have monthly payment of £288.58 monthly (the 1st payment was August ’15). Total credit 17440.77 with final payment of £11200.00, so borrowed £6240.77, with interest of £4148.11. I am now 32 months into this agreement, can anyone with a good head for calculations tell me when I can voluntary terminate the contract? The ‘Total Amount Payable’ figure on the contract is £24079.11, reducing this by 50% and taking account of my monthly payments, I’ll not reach the 50% before the end of my contract. Am I missing something?

Hi there I am nearly at my 4th week of pcp and having some financial issues. I am wondering if I take the car back for something cheaper will this effect me with negative equity. Also is this allowed after the 4 week period? Thanks

I wonder if you can help? I purchased a Volvo and have been involved with Santander Consumer Finance as a consequence since September 2015. The finance agreement requested was a 4 year PCP albeit that’s not the finance agreement I signed it transpires that this was a fixed sum loan guaranteed final payment.

After 46 payments I wanted to voluntarily terminate the deal as my new car had been delivered; Santander gave me two options:

1. Pay the car off in full and sell the car privately.
2. Pay the remaining payment(s) and hand back early; which felt counter intuitive.

Suffice to say I sold the car to the dealer when I collected my new car and the receiving dealer paid the loan off on my car.

Having checked my credit rating I noted the loan is still active having checked with Santander they advise the balloon payment was paid not the final outstanding monthly payments.

I’ve escalated to the financial ombudsman concerning being mis-sold the product and consequentially have not been classed as defaulting on the payments yet. I’ve received some judgements none of which have yet been in my favour and have escalated within the ombudsman for a final judgement.

Is there anything further I can do apart from pay the loan off before hit impacts my credit score?

Hi
Sorry if this isn’t posted in the right place.
I am hoping for some advice. A week ago today I got a car from toyota on pcp. I have only driven the car 4 times but all the warning lights keeps coming on. I took it into them and they gave me some rehearsed answer stating it needs a 3 hour repair and to take it in when they call to say they have the parts in.
I am not happy with this car at all. It doesn’t sound healthy doesn’t feel healthy and I just have a bad feeling about it. Whilst in there I asked if I could just change it for another car same model same price the sales guy said no sorry it’s too late. Is the correct? It’s only been 7 days since I signed.

Hi Stuart, a follow on from the quote from dubious. I am buying a new car with £1000 contribution from the manufacturer, was ready to pay cash but advice from salesman to take PCP and get a further £1000 contribution from the finance house who will recover that from the manufacturer. After a couple of months ask for settlement, pay that receiving £1000 minus the payments. He said this is possible but I am sceptical as the GMFV is based as you know on mileage 6000 and term 24 months. Is this practice possible and legal. I would welcome any thoughts on this matter. Very interesting site well done.Noel

Hi Noel. Yes, as previously mentioned above, you should be able to do this. The reason that they have suggested “a couple of months” is probably because the dealership won’t get their kickback from the finance company if you cancel straight away. However, this is not your problem.

Always check the fine print on any offer you are considering, to make sure you’re not getting caught out by any specific T&Cs.

Hi – I have signed a PCP finance deal but have recently seen a better deal elsewhere with a different manufacturer. I have not received the car I have ordered yet . Is it normally possible to get out of the agreement before receiving the car? Obviously I will lose my initial deposit of 1k but wondered if I would be liable to the remaining amount owed. (It has been longer than 14 days since i signed it)

Hi Alex. Check your contract details to make sure, but usually you have 14 days from the contract being activated (which is usually when the finance company actually pays for the car, usually the day of delivery or a day or two before) to cancel without paying any charges. If your car has not been delivered, your PCP contract shouldn’t have started.

The deposit with the dealership is another issue, and they are unlikely to give you your money back if you want to buy another car elsewhere.

Do you know if VW Solutions vehicle contract specifically says that the deposit contribution is subject to maintaining the PCP for a period of time? I’m considering a Tiguan and it’s got £2k deposit contribution. It’s either that, a Volvo XC60 or a Qashqai.

I’ve never seen it written into a contract. Technically it would be part of the vehicle order with the dealership rather than the finance agreement with VW Finance. It’s basically unenforceable, and I’m not aware of any dealers successfully pursuing customers to claw back the deposit contribution in the event that you cancel the finance within a certain time.

I know that some dealers will tell customers that they have to maintain the finance for a set period, but it’s pure self-interest because the dealer won’t get paid their commission by the finance company if you cancel within the first couple of months!

I am new to the forum so i hope this is the right place to post this question. My wife has had her car for around 6 months (hyundia i20 14 plate) and after 2-3 months noticed that there was a droning noise coming from the clutch, she took it back and they couldn’t find anything wrong. The problem has persisted and taking it back again the mechanic said it was the clutch (after 2 minutes of being in the car) and that they have had the same problem in the i30. The dealership is now saying that my wife will need to pay £200 for the to inspect the car and that the warranty team may deem that it may not be covered ?? If the dealership refuse to fix the car (if we refuse to pay the £200) are we within our rights to cancel the contract and demand a refund.

hi i am currently have a finance car with Volkswagen that i have had for 2 years and another one with them for 3 years before this one. a family member has come ill abroad and i am going over to look after them dont know how long i will be!
i have another year left on the car? will i be able to give the car back and if so how do i find out charge!? i go in 2 weeks!!! help!!!

If it’s a fault with the car then the dealership should be able to spot it easily without having to charge you £200 for an inspection. I can understand that if they have already looked at the car, they are not particularly inclined to look at it again for free, but £200 is frankly extortionate.

You can always go to another Hyundai dealer if it’s convenient and see if you get a better response. If you are not getting anywhere, just contact Hyundai UK head office in Hemel Hempstead and take it up with them. They should be able to pull some strings with the dealers.

You don’t have the right to cancel the contract or demand a refund for the whole car because you are still driving it. To successfully demand a refund (and/or PCP cancellation) you would need to have demanded it in writing and immediately stop using the vehicle at all. Continuing to drive the car implies an acceptance of it, fault notwithstanding. However, you should not have to spend a penny of your own money on repairs if it is a fault and therefore covered by warranty.

Thanks for the reply, I think they are saying that it might not be a manufacturing fault and the £200 is for them to open the gearbox to check the clutch. I have checked online (there are more than one instance of this problem) and it seems that the response has been that it is the driving style of the driver that has worn out the clutch. But unless you are a rally driver i would hope that a clutch would last more that 2 months :)

Under normal driving circumstances and with a reasonably competent level of clutch control, you’d expect the clutch to last for many years! As I suggested, try another Hyundai dealer and see what they have to say, and if you don’t get anywhere then go straight to Hyundai HQ.

I’ve recently gone in and arranged for a deal. £100 has been the deposit put down so far, the car is on order and I’m waiting for delivery. No contract has been signed, but thr deal has been verbally arranged about 18 days ago. A recent think and possible plans to live in another country 2 years from now has got me rethinking this whole deal. Am I able to cancel the deal and get a second hand car instead?

Hi Laura. Have a read of this article about changing your mind after buying a car. You can wave goodbye to your £100. You will need to cancel the order in writing, and be prepared for the dealer to claim expenses from you. However, unless they’re prepared to take you to court, there’s not much they can do to make you pay them anything.

Bought brand new audi from dealership under PCP and still within 14 days of agreement. An issue came up with our old car which has resulted in costing us a lot financially. As a result, my husband has lost faith in the dealer and feels we were treated badly once they got us to sign on dotted line so he wants to cancel the agreement for new car and hand it back – can we do this? If so, will we still have to pay anything outstanding?

Hi Louise. You can cancel the PCP agreement, but that doesn’t mean you can give the car back – it’s entirely separate. It simply means that the finance company will invoice you for the total amount borrowed, and you will have 14 days to pay it.

Without knowing what sort of “issue” you are referring to, it’s hard to offer any meaningful advice.

Hi Stuart, I have found the website very useful, and especially this thread. I was hoping you may be able to advise me. I am planning on buying a 6 month old Honda Civic from a Honda dealer. I could pay cash for it, but will probably pay via PCP to get the 3 years free servicing. I would then settle the PCP within the first 14 days. However, I am unsure if I would keep my free servicing. I have friends who have done this using VW finance and kept the free servicing, but unsure on Honda. Are you aware of other Honda finance customers who have done this? Thanks

I’m not aware of specific examples, but it will depend on a) what is written into the contract (which is usually nothing), and b) how organised the dealer is.

I have never seen car dealers bother to specify in a sales contract that a servicing agreement or deposit contribution is dependent on a customer maintaining the finance agreement for a minimum period of time, so they can’t legally cancel the service agreement or make you pay back a deposit contribution.

The dealership sales department usually has to get the service department to set up the free servicing agreement. If the sales department was efficient and organised, and processed all their paperwork promptly, they may notice that the PCP had been cancelled, and have the service department cancel the service agreement. But I’ve never seen it happen.

Hi looking for some advice regarding PCP. The finance company keep giving me different reasons and won’t tell me if I have reached the 50% they said they will send out my agreement and once I send in VT letter they will be in touch. I think maybe I have 3-4 payments left but can I terminate right now? Circumstances have changed and I have no way of affording these payments. I have made 26 payments of 42 but my cars worth to what they are saying could be due is less so either way I’m owing something somewhere. I have cancelled my DD as no one is getting in touch with me I’ve been waiting a couple of weeks now. I’m sure I will now hear from them when DD doesn’t go through any help would be great

Hi Nicola. Your VT amount should be clearly stated in your PCP contract. You should be able to work out how much you have paid them, and therefore whether you have reached this amount or how long you have to go.

Usually with a PCP, you don’t hit the VT mark until close to the end of the agreement, because you have to remember to include the GMFV. Read more in this article about voluntary termination of a PCP.

Thanks. I’m waiting on my contract coming through as I have for a couple weeks! I’m sure it works out as 4 months still to go. I’m just wondering if I can just tell them I can’t afford it and they will need to come for the car and obviously just pay what I will owe for the 4 months. When I took the car they are saying its was worth £13470 so is it 50% of this?

No, it is 50% of the Total Amount Payable, which is the original amount borrowed + interest and fees on the loan. The Total Amount Payable is likely to be in the ballpark of £16-18,000, so the VT amount would be half of that (£8-£9,000).

My wife and I ordered a car and are about to receive it tomorrow. We signed a PCP agreement with 14 days cooling off period which requires the full repayment. We just spotted that instead of 36 months we planned, we did sign up for 48 months. Therefore, we would like to cancel the car (losing deposit is fine). How does this work? If we can cancel the car means we haven’t actually paid for it yet and therefore the dealer should just return the amount financed to the PCP provider – is this correct? Or are we losing the car + we also need to pay £31,000 for the vehicle we didn’t get?

Hi Vladimir. You can cancel the finance, but that doesn’t cancel the car purchase. All it means is that the finance company will invoice you for the amount borrowed.

If the finance company has already paid the dealer, the dealer will be unlikely to cancel the deal. They’ve been paid and they will want you to take the car. I suggest you talk to the finance company ASAP and see if the finance has been activated (ie – if they have paid the dealer). If they haven’t paid the dealer yet, you can probably cancel with just the loss of your deposit.

Cancelling the vehicle order is a different matter from cancelling the finance. There is no ‘cooling off’ period if you purchased the car at the dealership, so you are reliant on the dealer agreeing to cancel the order. Have a read of this article about cancelling a car purhase for more information.

I am looking at purchasing a new Audi. I have looked at HP which would be my normal route. I bought my last car that way through Audi but knocked them down to my bank rates. However I am now considering a new car rather than a used one because the £4500 or so dealer and finance contribution makes it cheaper than buying a nearly new one if I am prepared to go down the PCP route. I wouldn’t do this normally as I intend to keep the car after the 3 years of the PCP and it is an expensive way to do it if keeping the car. I also don’t want to go down the route of cancelling the finance within 14 days as I am not in a position to pay it off in full. I think I have found a solution but want to make sure I am not missing something. I was intending to pay the maximum deposit of 50% including possibly trading in my car (depends on the figure they offer) and pay the minimum GMFV. This then leaves me to pay the balance by the monthly payments which are more like an HP loan level than the usual PCP figures. I think with the dealer/finance contribution, and with minimising the balloon payment at the end, will mean that the overall cost to change is less than a simple HP loan. I may pay a little extra in interest than I would on an HP loan but that is more than outweighed by the £4500 deposit contribution by taking the PCP. By paying off the loan in the monthly payments and leaving a GMFV of less than £1500 I think I have managed to turn a PCP into virtually an HP loan but am I missing anything? Thanks

Hi Neil. I’m not sure they will allow you to set up the finance in that manner. Usually the maximum deposit on a PCP is 25-30% (depends on the GMFV & term), so I doubt you will be able to put down 50%.

Also, the GMFV is determined by the finance company and is based on the model & specifications, term and annual mileage.

What you are describing is more like a lease purchase, where you can set a final balloon figure but it is not guaranteed. Have a read of this article summarising the different types of car finance for more info. The finance company may not offer the same deposit contribution and interest rates on a lease purchase as on a PCP.

Thanks. That’s odd because when I was looking last year I made various inquiries for prices and Orangewheels confirmed the max deposit was 50% of the selling price before deposit contributions are subtracted. Then deduct the dealer and audi finance contributions from that 50% figure leaving you the balance you yourself can add in towards the deposit. They also stated they thought GFV could be as low as 2 or 3 payments so even down to £800-1000. Also when I have mentioned to a couple of dealers doing it this way none of them suggested it was not possible.
If I can do it this way it knocks a couple of £k off the total cost doing it by HP over the life of the 3 year loan. As I want to keep the car for maybe 5-6 years all in it’s the total cost I care about not the monthly payments. It just seems so simple an idea that I wonder what I am missing. I may have to check with audi finance.

I’m not sure what Orangewheels were quoting you, but it doesn’t sound like a PCP. With a PCP, the GMFV is set by the finance company based on what they expect the car to be worth at the end of the agreement and the customer is not normally able to vary it. The deposit is also capped, usually at a lot less than 50%.

There’s no cheap way of beating the finance company – they will always get their pound of flesh for lending you the money, regardless of which finance product you are using.

I am trying to sort out collection with Santander but they want to charge me £70 or drive it to newcastle! I live in central Scotland so it’s not reasonable. I told them they can’t do this under CCA but they want the legislation in writing from me. Do you know where I can get it or exactly what I need to say to them? Hoping to get the car picked up next week. Any help would be great they have now sent a letter for me to sign to say I’m happy with £70

Here is the CCA, but it mainly refers to cancellation of a distance or off-premises contract and cancelling within the cooling-off period. Collection or return of the vehicle after this time should be covered in your contract.

If you were financing through a manufacturer finance company, they usually allow you to drop the car to your nearest dealership, but obviously Santander don’t have car dealerships.

Hi Stuart, I bought a car on PCP and at the time i didn’t know what the process was. Nobody explained that i could decide on mileage. At the time when i received the paper work the excess mileage was 4 & 7 per mile on a 10k per annum limit. I was working away and my partner went to sign the paperwork. When i reviewed the paper work the pence per mile excess was now 7 and 15 respectively. On addressing this i was told that they had to go to another finance company. Now this is fine if that was the case however should they not have shown due diligence and informed us of the changes? On arguing the point i was told as long as i have paid half i could return the car. My questions are is this the case? Would it effect my ability to get car finance in the future because if not I have a good mind to do the mileage i need return the car at half way and finance a new car. If this is not the case would i be better phoning the finance company and upping the mileage? Any thoughts would be appreciated thanks.

There’s several points that I will address separately:
1) Nobody forced you to sign a contract, so you can’t argue that things were changed without you being told. If you don’t read a contract before signing it, you have no-one to blame but yourself.

2) Not sure how your partner can sign a contract for you – it’s not allowed. If the finance is in your name then you have to sign the contract.

3) Yes, the dealership should have informed you if the contract was not as per the application, especially since the finance company was not as originally advised. But again, you should also read what you are signing. A contract is legally required to spell everything out, but you still have to read it.

4) If your finance agreement is a PCP or HP, then you can voluntarily terminate the agreement once you have repaid 50% of the Total Amount Payable. It will not affect your credit rating or ability to get finance elsewhere, but the finance company whose agreement you have terminated may choose not finance you again.

5) Some (but not all) finance companies will allow you to increase the annual mileage allowance on a PCP, so you will pay more per month and have a lower GMFV at the end of the agreement.

Thank you for your swift reply. I totally agree with point 1, I read T&C’s cover to cover. The finance is in my partners name and i was out the country and she signed because she assumed everything was as stated from the beginning and i hadn’t had a chance to get my hands on the paperwork so that’s a learning curve on our part. I think from my point of view and taking your comments into account I am trying to do damage limitation at end of finance in terms of excess mileage which i factored in at the lower rate. Again lack of experience on my part in being able to negotiate mileage pre order which was never highlighted by the Sales Ex is a factor.

Can I ask, if I have a 48 month PCP and changed the car after 36 months would the current mileage be a factor in terms of excess mileage charges?

If I see through the remainder of the finance agreement and chose not to make the balloon payment and get a new car, do dealerships tend to take the excess mileage figure from the GMFV.

Thank you for your help I’m just trying to get a better understanding of PCP which will help no end next time round.

If you are settling your PCP early, you will be charged for excess mileage on a pro-rate basis. You may eligible to qualify for voluntary termination, in which case excess mileage doesn’t apply.

If you see out the term and part-exchange the car, your settlement figure will be increased on account of your excess mileage (usually about 10p/mile). The part-exchange value is always a market value, so it is not dependent on your GMFV/settlement figure, although in practice the value is never usually too different if you stick to your mileage.

It may be that the part-exchange value covers the settlement despite the mileage, or it may be that you have to pay out the negative equity before you can worry about how you structure the finance on your next car.

Hi Stuart,
I recently bought a Nissan with PCP deal and I have just cancelled the PCP within the 14 day cooling off period. When I spoke to them on the phone, the finance company told me that –
i) I would not be able to reverse my decision and continue the finance after cancelling it on the phone.
ii) I must pay back to the dealer any dealer contribution that was made for the purchase (£1000 for taking out PCP).
I cannot find anything about paying the contribution back, in the terms of the PCP finance contract or in the dealer contract. Do you think they were trying to scare me into not cancelling, or is there some recent change to allow them to reclaim their contribution?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Liz

Hi Elizabeth. If there is nothing written into your contract which stipulates that the £1,000 deposit contribution is conditional on you taking out and maintaining a PCP contract with Nissan Finance, then they can’t force you to repay the £1,000.

Hi Stuart,
14 Months ago I purchased an 2yr old approved Audi A5 for my wife from an Audi dealership on a PCP plan. Over the past 12 months we have experienced a number of mechanical faults on the vehicle culminating in a £2000 bill last month with which we had to reluctantly pay £500 with Audi picking up £1500 as a good will gesture as the car had just come out of warranty. Now 3 weeks later another fault has appeared which is now going to cost £3000! After heated discussion with dealer they will contribute £1000, Audi will contribute £1000 and we are expected to pick up £1000. Having told them that this is totally unacceptable and would like to know whether we can return the vehicle and cancel the PCP agreement as we now lost all confidence in the vehicle.

Hi Matt. Unfortunately, if you have had the car for 14 months and have been driving it throughout that time, you will struggle to successfully claim that the vehicle is not fit for purpose.

From a legal perspective, any used car can reasonably expect to have some problems – although yours have been more than normal, that doesn’t mean you can give the car back and cancel the finance agreement. If you want to try and negotiate your way out of it, you would be best advised to seek professional legal assistance.

Hi Colin. You almost certainly won’t find them on the website. They will be listed in the contract, and probably also in the pre-contract information that the dealer has to give you (but many don’t, or gloss over as quickly as possible).

You should take your time to read these, and are perfectly within your rights to take them away and read at home or work in your own time, regardless of the fact that they will probably do anything they can to stop you from doing so.

Hi, been reading your page and really needing some advice cant find a similar situation on here so please could you try help. Im currently in a PCP with VW after 4 months have having the car the breaks started to make a sound upon obviously breaking, i took the car into the garage and they stripped and cleaned the breaks for me, this continued so i took the car back they said they could of missed something and would re-do this. Again, continued. The garage then agreed to fit the car with new breaks (yet this was a 14 plate car straight from the show room) i agreed to this as i had no choice and just wanted the car to stop sounding like a bus. After only 2 months its continued i went back and the garage said it was nothing to do with my breaks which i questioned why they’d of carried out work on them and why is it when i touch my breaks it makes the noise, i refused to take the car till it was fixed and was supplied with a hire car, they then changed the cars hub baring and upon collecting the car (which they kept in a week to test the car for the sound) when i got in the car the ABS light came on and was un able to drive it, managed to get to the end of the car park and went and got them to come look at this, upon them telling me to reverse back into the bay and to put me back into the hire car the wheel drops into place and the car then drives so again, we refused (this we have on video, as well as lots of videos of it making the squeaking break sound) the garage then told me they’d checked the car and was good to go, i have since this refused the car as i have lost all faith in this garage. After putting a complaint in with the head a VW they’d paid for an independent report which still states the car makes the noise but is due to it of been stationary position. This is now the garages excuse which i don’t believe is correct and fair. I have now gone to a complaint with the Finance Ombudsman which VW have now offered me 1 months free payment. I have been in a hire car for 8 months, yes provided by VW as i am still paying my payments. I am scared to go back into the car i have on PCP due to all the issues as well as lost all faith with VW. I asked the ombudsman to be out of my deal and a part refund as i did put down a £1000 deposit and paid off £4000 of my finance, this was rejected due the the independent report being carried out and my video evidence being before this, but i haven’t been in the car since and feel if i took this car back im just going to have continuous issues and stress. The complaint as gone further up with the ombudsman but i would like more advice on my rights. VW have offered to put me in a new car within the last month but it comes as a more expensive cost then my current deal, and i loose out on all the money I’ve been paying over the last year and half, and like i said i don’t trust them as a garage. Please help if you can.

If the Ombudsman is involved in the process, then you are best to work with them rather than going off on your own. You don’t have to have warranty work done by the same dealership, so if you feel that the dealer is not acting correctly then you should be able to go to any other Volkswagen dealership.

I would like some advise please, I ordered a new audi on finace and signed the order form on 15/07\15. I have changed my mind about it. Can I cancel my order and just loose my deposit? The car hasn’t been built yet and is due for delivery at the end of September.
Thanks

Hello, looking for some advice please :-)
I have just bought a used car and collecting it tomorrow. I took the PCP finance to receive a £500 dealer contribution and also a 2 free service plan. I don’t need to finance the car and have the cash to buy it outright. The sales guy has said that it’s best to cancel the finance after 14 days to give the dealership time to add the free services to my plan. This will of course be after the 14 day cooling off period. My question is this…..will I end up paying lots in interest/charges (APR is nearly 14%!) if I cancel the finance after the first payment leaves my account after a month of owning the car? I believe the settlement ‘option to buy fee’ is only £10….it’s the interest that may be added to it that is really worrying me!! Any help much appreciated….thanks! :-)

Hi Sarah. The salesman is lying to you. There is nothing to stop them setting up the free services on the same day, let alone within 14 days.

Cancel the finance within the 14-day cooling-off period; it’s your legal right and they can’t charge you any interest or fees. If you cancel after that, they can charge you interest but more importantly, they can also charge you a whacking great cancellation fee.

I signed a PCP agreement on a brand new BMW in June 2015 and paid £1000 of a £4000 deposit. The remaining £3000 is due on collection of the vehicle, which is currently 9th September 2015. Monthly payments do not start until I have collected the vehicle.

Can I cancel this contract if I have not yet received the vehicle? Keeping in mind that I customised this car myself and it has been factory made specifically for me.

Hi Stuart,
On Saturday I put down a deposit on a PCP for a car but overnight I changed my mind. I was waiting for a credit check to be done and I did not sign any credit agreement. However, I had signed an order form when I paid the deposit. I have asked the salesman to cancel the agreement but he says he needs to speak to management. If I haven’t signed the finance agreement, am I right in thinking I wont have to pay for the car and I can just cancel the order? From your other posts it looks like I may not get my deposit back either, although the order form I signed doesn’t specifically say I wont get it back if I cancel.

I recently signed a pcp contract for a new car which was on the Skoda garage forecourt. I paid £500 deposit with an outstanding deposit balance of £495 with an agreement to PX my current PCP car. The settlement estimate for my current car was £7000. Subsequently skoda have contacted me to say the settlement figure was wrong and in order to progress the sale I need to pay an extra £2000.
My question is as this settlement estimate by skoda was wrong what are my rights in getting me deposit back?

Hi Daniel. It is your responsibility to provide the Škoda dealer with a correct settlement figure – they are unable to get this for you due to privacy legislation. If you bought your current car through the same finance company (Volkswagen Financial Services) then they may have been able to get the settlement figure, but it’s still unlikely that they could have got it without you giving direct permission to the finance company to provide it.

How you and the dealer ended up with an estimate that was £2,000 off will determine whether or not they are inclined to give you your £500 deposit back.

If they are working off numbers you provided, then they are entitled to keep it. If they had the correct information but calculated incorrectly, they would be expected to give it back.

Hi Stuart,
I went to my BMW dealership for a used car and was willing to pay 4k cash and 10k in the form of a bank loan. I got sold PCP by the business manager. I have signed all paperwork but not picked the car yet. No deposit has been made either. I do not want a new car every few years and feel more in control paying upfront and making the car last 7-8 years. Can i still cancel the whole deal.

Hi swarn. There is a difference between cancelling the purchase contract and cancelling the finance contract. The finance contract has a 14-day cancellation period included by law, and if you haven’t taken the delivery of the car then it will not have started yet.

However, cancelling the finance does not give you the right to cancel the car – it just means you have to find another way to finance it. So if you choose not to go ahead with the dealer finance, you would be back to Plan A of getting a bank loan instead.

I’ve ordered a new Renault Zoe on PCP and I’m waiting on delivery (expected late January as the car is built to order). As it is an EV I was planning on using the free EV charging available in Glasgow while at work, but now I’m hearing that may be coming to an end. This has resulted in me rethinking my whole decision. I’ve signed a vehicle order agreement but I’ve not paid a deposit yet, is it too late to cancel the order?

Hi Chris. You should be able to cancel this order without any dramas. Legally, you don’t actually have the right to, but if you haven’t given them any money then there’s not a lot they can really do about it.

I just signed up to a PCP deal for a used car at a main dealer on the 23rd of Nov when I went to view it. I signed it on the basis that the car would be delivered today after they had completed a service and some remedial work. I took today off work as car was due to be arriving. They called this morning and said that they are having problems doing some of the work needed on the car (due to delays in getting parts ). They are not telling me when the car will now be delivered. They are being a bit blunt with how this is now being explained to me.

I am a little annoyed, and wondering if I can tell them to keep the car as it was not delivered on the date agreed. I called VW finance, who said that the contract is in force so I will need to pay.

I am a little annoyed now, so…
Can I refuse to accept the car when the dealer finally delivers it, or can I simply call them and tell them that I don’t want to progress with the purchase any more?
Or is it a case that I have to accept the car regardless as I have signed the finance PCP agreement with VW finance.?

Hi I recently purchased pcp and I put down a £300 deposit then a further 4700 deposit when I went to pick up the car today. I have been given the paperwork and I’ve bought the car home and I’m required to pay 191 a month for 36 months. I now wish to cancel my finance and buy the car outright. It was originally on sale for 16990 so does that mean I can cancel the finance and pay the remaining 11990? Or will I lose the deposit and I’ve to pay 16990?? I am so confused I am never doing one of these Deals again! car buying was simple, them came finance, hp and pcp!!

You will have to repay whatever it was that you decided to finance, which by the sound of it is £11,990. You have 14 days from the contract being activated to cancel without incurring any additional costs.

I have signed an agreement to purchase a vehicle on finance at my Local Peugeot dealer. I have done some more calculating and realised I won’t be able to or will struggle making the repayments of just over £300 to the finance company, which is Peugeot Financial Services. I know i can cancel that with in 14 days which I am well within. I would just like to know if this will also cancel the agreement to purchase the vehicle? If not, can I cancel the agreement to Purchase? or is so, will it incur any costs other than probably losing my deposit?
Thank you.

I’m looking to go down the PCP route tongetbthe dealer’s buyers incentive/contribution and then cancel the finance within 14 days and pay it off in full. How should I request this cancellation from the finance company – by phone or should it always be in writing? If so, would email suffice (legally speaking)?

Hi, sorry for jumping in on this thread but I noticed the heading said ‘pcp cancellation rights’.

I have a problem a little different to those above but I am wanting to get my pcp terminated.

Cut a long story short I got a fiat 500 (last year) from Pentagon-group which after a week of driving developed a horrible knocking on the front end when going over bumps. Obviously I took the car in as I am on one of their service plans! They took the car in for a day and said they had found it but when I got the car back the noise was still there! This has gone on now for a year and the car has been in 9 or 10 times for the same knocking noise which is getting progressively worse! The company keeps sending me round in circles and I’m not confident they will ever find the problem, only fob me off until the end of my pcp.

I am basically wanting to know what my rights are regarding refusing the car and walking away from Pentagon and taking my custom elsewhere? Is this something I can do or not?

I have tried going to the top of Pentagon-group but they don’t seem to want to give me contact details

I will get in touch with the finance company tomorrow and discuss my case with them, hopefully like you said, it might spark something off and get us set in the right direction.

One thing I did get told of someone I know is that if the car had been back 3 times or more for the same ‘un-resolved’ problem then I can refuse to have it back but I think the way you said to do it is a lot more sensible

Sorry to go over old ground.
I have provisionally bought a car today from Audi and have been offered a 1500 incentive for taking out a pcp agreement., even though after trade in I have enough cash to pay for the car in full.
I have verbally accepted the pcp deal with the intention of cancelling within the 14 day cooling off period and paying off the balance to avoid interest but have been told by the salesman that I would need to pay back the 1500 incentive.
He stated (off the record) that if I run the pcp for 6 months then cancel, the incentive would not need to be paid back. If I wait 6 months would I not pay more in cancellation fees and outstanding interest?
Or am I just safer cancelling in the 14 day cooling off period and taking the risk of possibly having to pay back the 1500?
As I haven’t actually signed a pcp agreement yet I don’t know if there are any binding terms and conditions.

hope you can help
purchased a brand new car on pcp 36 months, paid 5000 deposit and received some deposit contribution or discount . within 7 days car became faulty with stop start error on screen, door panel pulls in out when operating electric windows, electronic hand brake sometimes stick, auto lights keep on even when full sunny day, intermittent hill start, been in garage now for approx 10 days and again this morning the stop start error is back on and again hand brake sticks and stalls the car,we have only had the car 1 month,car seems very unworthy and was priced retail at around 30k, what rights do i have to cancel out of this and can they sort out a different car or totally refuse to do anything about returning car for exchange or refund, also the other problem is i paid extra 1000 for trims and things when dealers have fitted to the car ?
kind regards

hello Stuart
as mentioned previously , car was new and faulty from the very start, i contacted the finance company Nissan finance and they implied they will start the action to i guess contact the dealers , however i have already done this and the dealers are not getting back to me,the finance company say it will take 8 weeks to come to a decision ? , i have sinced stopped using the car but will continue with making the payments, but can they do this , the car was registered end of nov 2015 and the dealer has had the car approx 10 days in out and back in again on 3 more occasions and still faults are there.i gave them the opertunate to change the car for another make os sim value but still not getting back to me, could i take the car to the dealer and leave it with them telling them i refuse it or do i have to keep the car with me ? regards and thank you for the avice

Hi Stuart
I would like to voluntarily terminate of my PCP for a nearly new car purchased 3 months ago. Your section on this subject noted change of circumstances like loosing a job is valid, but what if i passed the “1000 mile change car if you dont like it rule”. I have tried to get on with it for 3 months; but a busy work life and now finally decided i don’t like the way it drives or feels, it drives you! car isn’t engaging; not a drivers car more like a boat. how can i get out of this pcp and get rid of it with out great loss? The half mile test drive and local driving wasn’t enough time to decide. after some longer journeys my mind is made up. Car cost 12k total with deposit was 2k rest on PCP registered to me with 11,900 miles in Dec 2015 and registration 64.

Hi. Soon to be purchasing a new VW through their commercial arm but it will be a retail finance purchase. They are currently offering £750 contribution with their PCP finance. I effectively need to finance for only a month & was thinking about Hire Purchase but the £750 contribution deal is only with their PCP offer. Can I take the PCP deal (30% contribution) and then pay off the balance after one month? Would I just pay the interest for that month in question or is it best to try to pay off an cancel before the 14 day cancellation period is up (guessing this starts on delivery date). Appreciate your help with this.

Hi Steve. Yes, you should be able to do this. Best to cancel before the 14-day cooling-off period ends if you have the cash available, as you won’t incur any fees or interest charges. Have a read of our article about deposit contributions.

Im not sure you will remember me posting on here about my PCP through Pentagon-Group for my fiat 500s? Well to re-jig your memory i got a brand new 500 on the 3rd of nov 2014 and after 2 weeks after it generated a horrible knocking noise on the front end. I have been taking it back ever since for the same problem and they always say they have sorted it. Tonight i collected the car yet again and low and behold, the noise is back! This is the 10th time it has been in and i am right at the end of my tether with it now i just want rid ! i am in contact with fiat themselves and also the finance company it is through, i was just wondering if you knew anything that could get me out of this contract and this hell hole !?

Hi Adam. I would recommend visiting legalbeagles.info for consumer and legal advice about how to proceed with this. On one hand, it has been an ongoing issue for nearly 18 months, but on the other hand you have continued to drive the car rather than rejecting it before now. I’m not a lawyer, so can’t suggest how it would be weighed up by a judge. The guys at Legal Beagles should be able to advise, but you are likely to need to engage your own legal services to get it resolved properly.

Hi Andy. The 14 days starts from when the agreement is activated. Usually this is when the finance company pays the dealership for the car. However, I would recommend taking up your right to cancel much sooner than that in case of any unforeseen delays.

I am thinking about buying a Polo using PCP from my local VW garage. The finance/loan would be for £4000 over a 48 month period with a balloon payment of £4500 at the end of the that.
If I was to use my right to cancel the PCP within the 14 days, would this mean I only have to pay the £4000 I took out on finance or the full amount including the balloon payment, so £8500.

Hi Ross. If you cancel the PCP, you will be invoiced for the full amount borrowed (ie – £8,500).

You are taking out £8,500 on finance, not £4,000. However, if you follow the PCP agreement to its end, you repay £4,000 (plus interest and fees) and then either pay the final £4,500 or give the car (now valued at £4,500) back to the finance company. So you repay £8,500 (plus interest and fees) in total.

I’d appreciate your view on my situation I am about to take delivery of a new car on a PCP which was intending cancelling post the delivery of the vehicle (to gain the additional discount for finance contribution). I however fear I have made a mistake in signing the contract too early. I signed/dated the agreement on 26th Feb, and the vehicle is due for delivery on the 14th March (17 days later). On re-reading the pre-contract finance agreement it states ‘credit will be treated as drawn down when the agreement comes into effect, this agreement will come into effect when you have signed it’, however, I don’t believe that the physical transaction will have taken place yet as the paperwork will only have been received by post in dealer today (27th Feb).

From reading the above thread, the view is that the activation is when the dealer draws the finance. Obviously I have given them an opportunity to draw the finance early by signing so early (my error) but I can’t see how a finance agreement con be active when no physical transaction has place, therefore, how can a settlement figure be provided?

My other option is to pay the finance off before I pick-up the car, but I feel that is risky as there is a chance the dealer will know the finance has been cancelled.

I’d appreciate your thoughts on this – lesson number one – read everything at least 3 times before signing!

Hi James. The 14 days is usually considered to have started once the finance company pays the dealer for the car, which is usually the day of delivery or the day before.

The reason this date is used is to prevent the finance company from activating the contract more than two weeks prior to delivery in an attempt to dodge the 14-day cooling-off period.

Even if you have gone more than 14 days, you would still be able to settle the finance agreement with only a small amount of interest (you have only borrowed the money for just over two weeks, so the amount of interest would be minimal).

Hi
I am looking at purchasing a new mazda. I have the cash but can get £1000 dealer contribution and £1500 from a mazda finance deposit contribution, that’s if i take a pcp. 2 different garages told me different things. One said I had to pay the first months payment the other referred it to their business manager who said I had to pay the first 3 months !! both said there were no early payment fees.Both said i could not cancel til these payments were made but ideally i want to cancel during the cooling off period and avoid any interest at all.I was planning picking up the car then ringing and cancelling under cooling off and paying it all off. I am going to ask for a copy of the pcp contract before i commit. Do i need a copy of anything else to read re deposit contribution ? or is it just the pcp i need read. I’m very cautious as i do not want to end up making any mistakes and as such will get one of my friends to read it too. I have the cash but would be daft not to want the massive discount too !! Many thanks.

Hi Tracey. The reason the dealers are telling you that you need to wait is because it suits their purposes, not yours. They get paid a commission from the finance company for selling you finance, but this does not get paid if you cancel your finance within a certain time. So if you keep the finance for three months, they will get their commission and then they don’t care what you do.

You can cancel your finance within 14 days with no fees or interest charges. Unless there is something in your vehicle contract which specifically says so, the dealer can’t reclaim the deposit contribution from you. For more information, have a read of our article on deposit contributions.

Just a quick question on behalf of a friend. She entered into a PCP contract for a car a month ago. Has only driven it a few times (due to illness) but on the few times she has she has noticed a problem with the breaks (they keep on making a grating sound). She is taking it to the garage today, but wants to know what her legal rights are? Does she have to pay for the repairs?

Hi Rebekah. Her rights will depend on the nature of the problem. If it was a problem that was present from the time of purchase, she may still have rejection rights under the Consumer Rights Act (2015). Have a read about it in this article.

As to whether the dealer would be obligated to fix the problem, it would depend on the warranty offered with the car and the nature of the problem.

Hi there. Just about to purchase a new Toyota, the company is offering £1k off the car if take out PCP. This I would like to do to get the discount and then cancel within 14 days and settle up in full to purchase car outright. If I go down this road does that mean that I would be the ‘second owner’, the PCP finance company being the first owner? How is ownership recorded with PCP?

Hi Dave. Here in the UK, they confusingly refer to the Keeper rather than the Owner in this. If you buy a car on a PCP, you are the Keeper and the finance company is the Owner until the finance is settled in full.

If you are buying a new car, you will always be shown as the first Keeper on the logbook, regardless of whether you are paying cash or taking a PCP.

If you are leasing, the finance company is both the Owner and the Keeper, and you are simply renting the car.

I wanted to purchase a new nissan Qashqai and found a dealer with a price I thought to be fair, and I wanted to pay cash. I questioned the dealer as to why the cash price was more expensive than the cash price. The dealer informed me that there was a way to achieve the finance price without fully using the finance option. The suggestion was as you have indicated that I take out the finance and pay for four months I could then cancel the finance and pay the final installment. I would just lose the four payments I had made.

As I was sceptical I started to look up the internet to see if this would work, this is when I found your site.

I subsequently made an appointment with the dealer and signed all the paperwork etc for the finance, I collected the last week and on the following day I telephoned the finance company to cancel under the fourteen day cooling off rule. There were suggestions that they may wish to reclaim the deposit contribution, but I made the final payment the same day by bank transfer. This triggered a number four calls from the dealer, I left the phone on my answering machine, they claimed they were worried that the finance company may charge me extra. As I had not answered the phone I also received an email asking me to contact the immediatly, which I also ignored.

No further contact, my two years free servicing is also set up, so should work.

As you have discovered, the “pay for four months and then cancel” and the “we’re worried that the finance company may charge you extra” are purely so the dealership can collect its commission from the finance company, so it’s in their best interest rather than yours.

Good to hear that the free servicing is set up, as they will often try and cancel that if it hadn’t been put in place before you cancelled.

I agreed to a pcp on Friday to a second hand fiesta. Over the weekend I found a better deal so informed the dealership today I no longer wanted the car. They told me I will need to keep the aggremant as the pcp is now active.

Surely I can cancel the order as I have the 14 day calling off period? Or even as I have not yet picked up the car has the pcp even started?

Hi Joe. Try calling the finance company directly to discuss it with them. It is unlikely that the agreement will have been activated (i.e. – that the finance company would have paid the dealership) until you are due to pick up the car.

You can cancel the finance contract under the 14-day cooling-off period, but that does not cancel the vehicle purchase (it simply means you have to find another way to pay for the car). If the finance company has not yet paid the dealer, then you can cancel the finance contract and there’s not a whole lot that the dealer can do to force you to take the car – they could try and take you to court, but the cost and hassle are more than the profit margin on the car and there’s no guarantee they would win.

If the finance company has already paid for the car, there’s little chance that the dealer will willingly cancel the vehicle order. In future, once you have bought a car, stop shopping around!

The car and finance are two separate issues, so you will have to speak to both the dealership and the finance company. The finance company should be able to tell you if the contract has been activated.

Hi I’ve just paid a deposit on a car through pcp deal today. I have just noticed they have put the incorrect mileage down. Can this be amended to what it was agree and meant to be? I did sign paperwork and credit check went through.
Thanks

Hi Claire. Yes, you should insist that the correct mileage is noted on the vehicle order form and the finance documents. If they are reluctant to alter it, refuse to accept the car or sign any further paperwork. If they are still reluctant, call the finance company yourself and explain what’s going on.

It’s important for your PCP, which will have a mileage allowance as part of the terms and conditions. It may also affect your warranty, as the paperwork for that will use the sales contract to determine your warranty expiry mileage.

I bought a new 15 plate 208 from Peugeot last May on a PCP deal. Due to temporary financial difficulties, I wondered if it’s possible to take a ‘holiday’ break from making the monthly repayments. I wish to keep the car and am more than happy to make the owed payments for the remaining term, however could do with a few (6?) months break to get myself back on track financially.

Do you know if this is possible and if so, would I incur any penalties/additional charges for this?

Hi Stuart – very useful information here. I’m buying a new Golf through a VW main dealer on a PCP contract. The vehicle has been ordered but yet delivered. At the time I signed the vehicle order VW’s deposit contribution was £1,250 but I see that VW’s latest offer is £2,000. What are the chances of getting the dealer to apply VW’s current higher deposit contribution when I go to sign the finance agreement? I intend to cancel the PCP contract within 14 days and pay off the outstanding balance. Thanks.

Hi David. Yes, you should be able to get the increased deposit contribution for this. Usually it’s perfectly straightforward, although a dealer will usually wait for you to ask rather than offering it to you.

Just wanted to share my experience with withdrawing from an Audi PCP Finance agreement during the cooling off period..

So in the last two weeks I have taken out Audi PCP Finance, which came with the offer of a £1500 deposit contribution and 2 free services.

I have since withdrawn from the finance agreement with in the 14 day cooling off period, I have paid the finance balance to Audi Finance and they have confirmed that I keep the deposit contribution and 2 free services.

You will pay a daily amount of interest for each day between the day after you sign the agreement to the day you give notice to withdraw, but in my case it was only £6.08 per day. I withdrew on day 5 so that was £30.40 interest plus the finance balance – well worth it considering I got £1500 off the car and 2 free services.

Please note that I read the T&C’s that came with my agreement (quite a few times) so that I could understand if this was possible before I committed my signature. I also did quite a bit of research online (this page included – thanks)! Finally I spoke with VWFS (VW Financial Services) and checked with them directly. So please make sure you read your own agreement, do some research and don’t just take my word for it.

I had a Seat Ibiza on PCP with VWFS and part-exchanged in March of this year. I am now in some serious financial difficulty after a change in circumstances and am struggling to meet the repayments. I haven’t missed any and will ensure I don’t miss any by borrowing money if needs be so that my credit rating isn’t affected but I want to know if I can give the car back and how much I will be charged in doing so? It’s obviously outside of any cooling off period and is nowhere near the 50% mark. I’m feeling sick with worry.

Hi Naomi. You are in a difficult position in the short term. You can sell the vehicle and use the money to pay off most of your loan, but it is likely that it won’t cover the entire amount – so you would have to find the cash to cover the difference.

I would suggest calling VWFS and explaining your circumstances to them. Officially there are no alternative payment options, but they may be happy to accommodate you in some way.

I have picked up a used car from a Jaguar dealership on monday, it is on PCP. I want to check if I can cancel the purchase and get out of it? Only thing I have paid so far is a deposit, which, I do not mind if I do not get back.

After reading your web pages with regards to starting the agreement then cancelling within the 14 day cooling off period I have checked the T and Cs with no mention about having to repay the discount.
Agreement termination shown below.

You can withdraw from the loan within 14 days beginning on the day
after you sign the loan, or, when we confirm to you in writing that you
and we have entered into this agreement, if this is later. You can do
this by calling us on 0844 811 9000 or writing to us at Barclays
Partner Finance, PO Box 2501, Cardiff, CF23 0FP. If you withdraw
and we have already paid the loan to the dealer, you will have to
repay the loan amount within 30 days of the date on which you tell us
you want to withdraw using our repayment details below (we will not
charge you interest during that time) using our payment details below.
If you do not repay all amounts when due, the agreement will
continue. Withdrawing from the loan does not cancel your
purchase. You will need to make separate arrangements with the
dealer if you withdraw before we have paid the loan amount to the
dealer. To keep things simple, the dealer may delay supplying your
purchase until the 14 days you have to withdraw from the loan have
passed.

From what this states I would have to make sure the loan has been paid to the dealer otherwise I would possibly lose the extra discount offered by PCP.
The finance company have mentioned making one monthly payment then paying off in full, I guess this would valdate them for their commision.
Would terminating within 14 days be advisable or delaying untill after 1st payment.
Apologies if too much info
Regards M Gallagher

Yes, you should be able to withdraw within the 14-day cooling-off period and keep any deposit contribution, unless your vehicle contract has any stipulations about it (which it almost certainly won’t).

Keeping it for a month and then settling just means it will cost you more money and you will have to pay early termination fees as well, which is quite probably why the finance company suggested it…

When you withdraw from the finance agreement, the finance company will invoice you for the full amount borrowed and you will have 30 days (usually) to repay it. Shouldn’t affect your insurance premium, although you would need to declare the finance when you first apply for insurance and then update it once you have cleared the debt.

Recently my PCP deal came to an end & I decided to hand my motorcycle back, I called Black Horse & paid the final fee. I was told that someone would be in touch to arrange collection. One month has now passed & I have called them 4 times & still nobody has come to collect the bike.

The problem I have now is the insurance has expired. Can you tell me how is liable if something happens to the bike?

I really don’t want to start a new policy when it could be collected the very next day.

Hi Stuart. I’m 6 months into a 48 month PCP with Mazda. I love the car but have now found we are expecting a baby and our car is not exactly practical. I would like to upgrade to a bigger model (staying with Mazda). Can this be done within the existing agreement or do we need to cancel, pay any penalties and start again?
Thanks in advance.

I bought a car today and wanted to pay with my 0% 27 months credicard. The sales guy convinced me to get a PCP and now I regret it as will have to pay 10% Apr for 3 years and never own the car. I want to cancel it but I did sign a contract with Barclays (PCP) at the dealer. Shall I go back tomorrow and try to stop it as do’t ree the benefit of it as don’t need to renew my car every 3 years really.

Hi. Just ordered a Mokka on pcp. The car will be arriving any day now. I have part exchanged my car to help towards deposit of £4000. I paid a holding deposit of £250. I have signed an order Form but no credit agreement as yet as not needed till car arrives. Having doubts about pcp and was thinking of cancelling. Am I able to do that at this point of the process. The dealer says that as he has ordered the car the wheels are already in motion. I don’t mind losing the 250 holding deposit and still have my car.

Hi Neil. I’m assuming that you mean that you want to cancel the vehicle order because you don’t want a PCP?

You don’t have the legal right to walk away from the contract, but in reality there’s not a lot the dealer is able to do except keep your deposit. They can potentially chase you for any additional costs incurred, but it’s probably not worth it to them.

Cheers Stuart. I have written confirmation that we wish to cancel. They have now emailed back stating a section on the their clause that we need to collect within 14 days. If not we will lose our deposit and the matter will be passed on to their legal team. I also need to call to arrange delivery of the car. Also on the vehicle order Form it does state we should examine the car before signing. The car was not present for us to do thiso yet they asked for a signature on that Form.

It would be unusual for a dealer to try and take you to court for cancelling a vehicle contract, so the threat of legal action is usually more of an attempt to persuade you to go ahead with the purchase. The cost of legal action is likely to be far more than the profit margin on a Mokka, so unless they are very confident of winning the case and getting costs awarded as well, it is a big risk.

Obviously the dealer wants you to take the car, but trying to force a customer to take a car they no longer want normally leads to grief all the way along the line, so dealers will usually cut their losses and move on.

I currently have a VW golf on their solutions plan, which I owe about £6.5k on. Last month I decided to part exchange it for a new Tiguan, which isn’t due out until September 2016.

I’ve paid £500 deposit, but now due to a change of job, will find the new finance deal too much money. As VW are unable to provide the new car until September, am I able to cancel the new agreement and keep my golf.

I know there would be a 14 day cooling off period, but is this from the date I sign the finance agreement, or from when I receive the car?

Hi David. The 14-day period should start from when the contract is activated rather than when you sign the forms. This is to stop a dealer holding the car for a couple of weeks to allow the cooling-off period to expire before delivering the car.

hi stuart
new Peugeot 2008 bluehdi model with stop start technology in august 2015 on PCP , September contacted seller to say stop start not working at all, they insisted it will but needs everything to be correct,so months pass and still never works and again no luck with dealer,everytime they would not phone me back, then early this year they close down so no luck getting resolved, went to another dealer again told it needs to have everything in order for it to work, days pass and around june 2016 car makes a strange noise and we take to peugeot, who say the aircon compressor is faulty and needs new parts, so they book car in and also inform it need s a service, so after 2 weeks they give us a car and have ours for 1 day, then they failed to tell us it needs more parts so car was never fixed just serviced, then they say another 10 days for part, so we go to another dealer and they say part in stock, so we book car in and they have our car for 1 day to find out what it needs, again we collect car but nothing done just waiting for parts, parts arrive and today car is booked in and hey presto a phone call to say they have fitted parts but there the wrong ones, why would you fit wrong parts ,anyway they now say another 4-5 days and parts will be there and fitted, so car is stopping there, now after all this do i have a right to refuse this car which is on a pcp or not ?
regards
wayne

Hi Wayne. You won’t be able to reject the car under the Consumer Rights Act as you are well outside the time limits. Given that the dealership no longer exists, you would have to take your matter to Peugeot UK to get it addressed.

I recently bought a car with just £100 deposit but I am not happy with the company or the car. Can I use the 14 day cooling off period and hand the car back and that be the end or will I have to pay costs?

Hello,
I am half way through a 4 year PCP with Audi Finance and I have been told by a few people that I can legally walk away from the PCP mid term without penalty and hand the car back.
What is the truth in this?

Hi David. What you are talking about is called voluntary termination. It’s not mid-term, it’s if you pay 50% of the total amount payable – including the balloon. On a four-year PCP, this probably won’t be until sometime in the final year.

Hi, I am looking at buying a BMW using their select finance. I will be trading in my current car to fund about 30% of the cost and then taking out the finance to benefit from the dealer contribution deposit. This will enable me to buy a new car and specify the options I want, instead of a nearly new pre registered car. I intent do cancel the finance straight away, I understand I don’t have to pay back the dealer contribution. I will obviously read the terms and conditions before proceeding but there’s a lot of discussion on when the finance deal will actually start, it’s likely to take a couple of months to get the car and then I may be well over the 14day cooling off period. The question is 1. Has anyone experienced doing this with BMW. 2. Does anyone know the fees and gotchas for cancelling after the 14day cooling off period? Many thanks in advance

Hi Bob. Yes, you should be able to cancel the finance agreement within the 14-day cooling-off period and avoid having to repay the deposit contribution – unless there is something in your contract which stipulates you have to repay it (and there probably isn’t). Because withdrawing from the agreement within the cooling-off period is your legal right, you can’t be charged for this.

If you cancel after the 14-day cooling-off period, you will have to pay interest for the time you have borrowed the money (which is only going to be a small amount), and any fees charged for cancellation.

The 14-day period should only start once you take delivery of the vehicle, so that the cooling-off period cannot expire before you have taken delivery of the car. If the dealer cannot confirm this, then simply don’t sign the finance agreement any more than 48 hours prior to delivery. You can still sign the vehicle order, but there is absolutely no need to sign the finance agreement until the vehicle is about to be delivered.

I am nearly halfway through a PCP deal with our current VW. We are expecting our second child at the end of October and ideally need a car with a bigger boot.

What’s your advice for asking for an upgrade? I don’t want to pay significantly more each month but willing to put down a one-off payment/deposit on top of my current car’s value. The dealership will have the upperhand if I go in and ask for an upgrade?

Hi Marty. You will need to settle your current finance agreement before you can start a new agreement on another car.

If you are only halfway through your PCP term, you probably still have a significant amount of negative equity, meaning you owe more than your car is worth. FOr more information, have a read of our article about settling your PCP early.

Hi there, in 2011 we leased a car for 5 years and recently purchased it about 6 months ahead of term. This week we received a cheque from the leasing company for repayment of interest, due to the fact they did not include information with regard to our early termination rights on our annual statement. The letter urges us to bank the cheque asap. Being cynical, we’re wondering how they have come up with the refund figure: do you know how they calculate such a refund? We don’t have the annual statements any more unfortunately but I do remember they only showed a list of our repayments for the year and nothing else. Thanks!

Hi Victoria. If you settled the agreement six months early, then you should have saved six months’ worth of interest payments.

It is likely that when the finance company calculated the settlement figure, they did not take this into account or made some sort of error which they are now rectifying.

Not sure about their point about the information on your statements. You may be able to get some more answers from legalbeagles.info or the Money Advice Service to explain what they have done wrong and what they need to do about it.

Basically, because the finance company did not correctly advise you of your VT rights, they are not entitled to keep any interest from your borrowing, hence the refund. So, as far as I can see, you have basically had a five-year interest free finance agreement.

Hi Stuart,
I’ve just entered into a 36 month PCP with Volkswagen finance. I noticed that I’m able to cancel the agreement within 14 days. Does this mean I can cancel, pay the credit in one go, and keep the car? I realise I may be answering my own question but just wanting to check out as I’m seriously considering this option – it’s proving to be quite uncomfortable on long journeys. Moral of the story – if you’re ordering with specific options that alter the way the car drives, make sure you’re able to source a car with those options to test drive! Really disappointed to just working out what to do.
Thanks.

My father has recently suffered a stroke and may not be able to drive again. He has a 4 year pcp with Mercedes which he is less than halfway through. Is there anyway of voluntarily giving up the car without serious penalties.

Hi there,
I took delivery of my new car today, it’s the first time I’ve bought on pcp (usually hp). Anyway, 2 hrs after picking it up, I went ton work and found out I’m likley to be made redundant!
Naturally I’m panicking, if I’d found out a few days ago, the credit would have been denied – do I have any rights that would allow me to return the car and take back the car I put in as part ex? I realise I’m probably clutching at straws here!!!
Thank you in advance for any help or advice you may be able to give with this!!

You can cancel your finance agreement within 14 days, but that just means the finance company will invoice you for the amount borrowed and you will have to find some other way to pay it. You don’t have any refund rights on the car itself.

Purchased a 65-reg Audi last week for my wife, on PCP. I was told that we would have the various tyre / bodywork / gap insurance included at the monthly price we were aiming for – which was fine.

Car value was £15,702 when advertised – and I put down a £500 deposit to secure the vehicle (as it needed to be transferred down from another dealership), and I was offered a £500 deposit contribution if we completed by end of Sept.

When going to sort out paperwork, the vehicle cash price was changed to £16,202. On questioning this with the business manager we were told that this was because they had to put the insurance items into the price somewhere.

After a lot of sales talk – we eventually decided that OK we’ll proceed and pay the remainder of our £5k deposit (£4,500).

As it was all such a rush needing to get things sorted before the end of Sept, we didn’t see the order form until after finance was arranged and signed.

By the look of it, the car was priced at £16,202 and was advertised including the £500 deposit contribution. This is not correct practice, but it would also depend on any small print or supporting explanations.

The £16,949 total is made up of the car at £16,202 and all the other insurances added on. Dealers will always push these onto you, as they make more commission on finance and insurance products than they do on the car itself. They are not interested in whether or not you actually want them.

In terms of whether you were scammed, I would say that it’s probably a bit grey. You said that you had a monthly target price, and the dealer advised that they could get you the car with all the extras for that target figure, which you were fine with. I assume that this did end up being the case. What they did not appear to do was properly explain how their figures were broken down.

Basically, it looks like you are paying about £1,176 for these add-on products, which has been taken from your deposit money. Therefore you are financing an extra £1,176. This would work out to an extra £30+ per month you are paying to have these products that the dealer should have explained to you.

Any insurance policy comes with a minimum 14-day cooling-off period, so you can get a refund on any or all of those products if you want. There should be paperwork with the relevant details and contact numbers for you to do so. There may be a charge for doing so.

Thanks for the detailed response. It does look as though that was the situation regarding the deposit contribution as I can’t find any mention of it anywhere in the order form.

This was actually via a main nationwide Audi dealership – so I wonder if we have any grounds for complaint. Bottom line is though that we still signed the deal so I doubt we have a leg to stand on.

I think we’ll end up paying off the finance, and cancelling the insurance options. Do you think we are able to get the money back from the paint protection stuff? Guessing not as it’s already been applied to the car.

You can complain to the dealer principal/general manager, but it’s unlikely to get you anywhere, since the sales exec and business manager will no doubt swear on a stack of bibles that they explained everything in great detail and you agreed that you wanted all the goodies. Their commissions will also get stripped if/when you cancel the finance and insurance, so they may be keen to offer you a token gesture to convince you to keep the add-ons. Naturally, the gesture will not be worth anything like the amount you would be saving by cancelling the insurances.

You can (and probably should) also complain to Audi UK about the dealership’s conduct, which will probably get you a token letter of apology from Audi UK and the dealership, but still nothing of any real substance. At least the dealer will get a kick up the tail from head office and it may improve their behaviour towards future customers.

The paint protection can’t be removed, so they are unlikely to want to refund you for it – plus they make a fat profit from it, percentage-wise. It cost you £429 and probably cost them less than £100. If you kick up enough fuss, they might grudgingly refund you the money or a portion of it.

Ultimately, you can make noise and fuss and you may get something out of it. But you’ll probably want to have your car serviced elsewhere as they are unlikely to be happy to see you when you’re next in (and they sound pretty dodgy anyway)…

Hi,
I entered into a PCP agreement with Volkwagen in September but have been offered the chance to move to Ireland from February next year.
I want to keep the car but reading into Irish government law it says I must register the car with the country’s version of the DVLA.
I surely can not be the only person to have a PCP agreement and move permanently abroad.
I was hoping you could tell me the following:
– Am I able to move then register the car in Ireland and continue paying the monthly payments?
– Switch from VW finance in the UK to VW finance in Ireland?
Any advice wil be greatly received.
Thank you

Hi Adam. You will need to check with Volkswagen Finance, but they are unlikely to allow you to take their car (it’s not yours) abroad and re-register it.

A PCP is a secured form of finance, meaning the finance company effectively owns the car until it is paid off in full. They are unlikely to allow their car to be taken abroad, where it may not be able to be recovered if you stop paying your monthly bill.

I bought a car with a similar deal. Everything went smooth since the dealer contributed £3,500. The problem came the next month after the deal: I received an email by the finance company saying there was a problem with the other part (apparently there was “strange transactions in the dealer account”). Simply unbelievable. Although I finally solved the problem, I do not recommend you this option.

I, I entered into a PCB on the 29 of September. I bought the car at the dealership, however the car had to be delivered the the dealer the following day for me to collect. When I collected the car I was told about a chip on the spoiler and a chip on the wing mirror. I looked for other damage and as it was raining heavily I was unable to see any. Myself and the dealer agreed that I could bring it back on the 15 of October for the parts to be resprayed and I agreed to drive the car away. On getting it home and cleaning the car (like you do) I noticed there was more damage then I was led to believe and the comfort of the car was not what I was advertised. As I am still withing the 14 day cooling of period do I have grounds to cancel my PCB? Thanks for the advice. :)

Hi Matt. You have a 14-day cooling-off period to cancel your PCP, but that doesn’t cancel your car purchase – it just means you don’t want to finance it and you will need to find another way to come up with the purchase price.

You can’t cancel a vehicle purchase just because the car is not as comfortable as you think it should be – unless the car has a significant fault which would allow you to reject it.

Also. Does me putting down the deposit and signing the line on the day of entering the PCB (29 September) rather then the following day(the day I got to see the car after it was delivered to the dealership) constitute as a distance purchase?

Two days ago I purchased a car for £25500 on PCP and traded in my vehicle, which they gave me £7500 for and I put down as a deposit. I now wish to pay for the car with a personal loan, I know I can cancel the PCP within these 14 days. But what happens to my deposit that was raised from trading in my car? Does that remain the same value?

Hi Nathan. From the numbers above, your borrowing on PCP is going to be about £18,000 (£25,500 – £7,500). If you cancel the PCP, you would therefore need a personal loan of £18,000 to pay for the difference. Your part-exchange is unaffected.

Hi Luke. You have a 14-day cooling-off period for the finance, but not for the car itself. If you cancel the finance, the finance company will simply send you a bill for the money borrowed. You don’t have the right to return the car because you made the wrong decision.

To change this car for another one, you will have to part-exchange it. This will be massively expensive – for more information, have a read of our article on new car depreciation.

I completely agree with you. You should have gone for Audi A6.
You will be shocked knowing that the monthly rental for Audi A6 is less than that of Audi A4. The reason behind this is the “Deposit Contribution” offered by Brand – Audi.

You have 14 days of cancellation right on finance. However, Its doubtful if you can return/exchange a car.

The best thing to do is to speak to dealer. The problem in this industry is that there is no comparison website which will allow customers to compare the finance offers on various vehicles. This website http://www.autopcp.com accomplish the goals to aware customers to a certain extent but still a long way to go.

I hope that dealer will be considerate towards you and will help you to swap to A6.

If you haven’t yet taken delivery of the car, you can try to cancel it and probably lose your deposit. You would need to contact the finance company directly, to confirm that you are cancelling your finance application.

As for the APR being “higher than what was agreed” – your chances of using this as an excuse to cancel the car purchase are low. It may have been that the contract presented had a much higher APR than the original quote or verbal discussion, but you need to spot that and not sign the contract rather than noticing afterwards.

Purchased a car on PCP however at the time of purchase it was pulling badly to the right. Dealership said not to worry and to take the car and they would fix under warranty. To give them credit they tried hard to repair but could not do so. They have offered to source me a replacement car of the same specification.

However, I would like to exit the agreement at no financial loss which would mean getting out of the PCP and the dealership paying me the trade in for my old car (which they no longer have). Plus returning my deposit and payment to date. Can I insist on this legally if they refuse, as they are keen that I just take a replacement vehicle?

I agreed a PCP Finance deal with Nissan yesterday, however today i have been told that my car will take 3 months to be delivered. the sales person told me it won’t take longer than a month when agreed the contract.

I gave a £300 deposit and was wondering if i could cancel the PCP Contract and if i would get my deposit back?

Hi Ali. Legally, unless there is a delivery date shown on the contract which they will definitely miss, they are not obliged to cancel the contract and give you your deposit back. You can certainly withdraw from the contract and ask for your deposit back, and there is a reasonable chance they will agree – however you probably don’t have a legal right to it. The dealer will probably also do the best they can to move you into another car which they can deliver on time, so there may be opportunity to negotiate yourself a better deal if they have another car you like.

In specific detail, the above advice covers the vehicle contract, not the finance agreement. You can withdraw from that with no penalty as it hasn’t been activated yet (doesn’t happen until just before your car arrives).

I just purchased an used Audi via finance. This is despite telling the sale rep that i was purchasing outright.
He convinced me hurriedly to signing the finance agreement saying there was no charge in cancelling as far as i cancelled after the first payment came out.
He selling point was i was get the 2 year free complimentary service after cancelling and said ‘there would be no charge on cancellation’ which i found hard to believe.
Anyway i tool his word for it.
Sadly i have just called the finance customer care team and there are charges. Even the ’14 days cooling off’ period is also charged interest daily which has made me feel so cheated and insulted.
Is this common practice? he looked honest and whats annoying is that even the 14 days cooling period is not free, is that right?

I am a bit confused. I wish to buy a used VW Polo and have seen one with a VW dealer. They are requesting £6750 for the car and if one took the VW Solutions PCP the finance company would give a deposit of £500 and 2 free service. I am in a position to buy the car in cash however when i asked for a discount to match the price if i took finance they refused.
I am considering taking the PCP just to get the lower price however i am concerned that if i cancel within the 14 days VW finance would want £6750 to repay and not £6250 plus a little interest and loose the 2 free service.
Or
Would it be better to cancel after making 1 month repayment but I don’t know if there would be any additional charges and if i would loose the free servicing.
I haven’t seen the PCP paperwork as i have been dealing over the phone.
Sorry if going over old ground

hi, please help, I am due to pick up a brand new made to order Audi this weekend and have paid £1000 deposit when I ordered it 3 months ago, with the rest approved on finance over 47 months agreed to be on PCP. My circumstances have changed and I now don’t want to purchase the vehicle. If I cancel this order now it has been delivered to the showroom, will I incur just the cost of the £1000 deposit or could they ask me to pay more?

Hi Andrew. The dealer will be pretty upset, so you can expect some pretty intense pressure to take delivery of the vehicle as per your contract.

If you are determined not to take the vehicle, there’s probably not a huge amount they can do. They can threaten to take you to court to enforce the contract, but there will be a considerable cost to them with no guarantee that they will win.

The dealer has the high ground as you have a legally-binding contract. They are well within their rights to ask you for some compensation for breaking that contract, but it all comes down to negotiation. It will also depend on your circumstances – if you can no longer afford the car, they may be somewhat sympathetic. If you have changed your mind and bought a BMW instead, they will feel justified in taking you to the cleaners.

The level of their discontent and pursuit of you will also depend on how saleable the vehicle is to someone else. If it is a desirable vehicle and they think they can sell it again quite easily, they may just drop it and carry on with life. If you have delved into the Audi Individual paint and trim colour options, and ordered a vomit brown car with purple and yellow leather, they will be chasing you until the end of time as no-one else on the planet will want that car.

Thank you. The car has had individual options applied to it. It is a Sepang blue TFSI Q5 S Line Plus with black pack, sunroof, audi flat bottomed wheel, bang ollfusen-so high spec but certainly not undesirable-the only caveat to that being that Audi have now released a new Q5 and this is the 2012 special editions model-last off the manufacturing process.

The only other bit worth mentioning though in my defense is is that I was not issued with any terms and conditions when I signed to buy the vehicle and only received them a month later by email after asking several times. The Finance terms only arrived today! I had never seen the full terms..just figures agreed on email. That being said, I did carry on with the order on email following this argument.

How much can they fessibly ask for as compensation? It is because my circumstances have changed and I am worried I will not be able to afford the payments over 47 months.

There’s no rule as to what they can feasibly ask you for. What does work in your favour is that you only gave the dealer £1,000 in deposit – I’m surprised they accepted such a low deposit on what must be a fairly expensive car. A dealer will usually ask for 10% of the total price as deposit. So they can chase you for whatever money they like, but it’s much harder than simply refusing to refund you any of a much larger deposit.

My partner has bought a car under PCP. She put down a decent deposit, with the balance loaned at a APR of 10.9%. She also took out Minor Damage Protection for £400 which she was told is added to the finance plan.

The quoted monthly payments over 48 months is £191. However, when I calculate the monthly payments based on loan amount including the interest and Minor Damage Protection, the monthly cost (over 48 months) is £178. This excludes the option to purchase payment at the end.

Included in the paperwork is a document which relates to the Minor Damage Protection, which shows the £400 but adds £216 interest = £616.

When you add this to the loan amount which includes minor damage protection already and interest, the monthly cost over 48 months is pretty much exactly £191.

Am I missing something or has the garage, charged £399 for the minor damage protection twice. Once with an interest rate of 10.9% included in the loan, and again with an interest rate of approximate 55%, so in total she is paying close to £1000 for the damage protection.

Hi Andrew. Not sure without seeing a detailed breakdown of the quotation. You will need to ask the dealer to run through the numbers line by line to explain how everything is calculated. Ask them to take out the minor damage insurance altogether (they will try very hard not to, as they make a staggering profit on it) and check the numbers again.

You said that you calculated the payments including interest; make sure you include interest paid on the balloon amount, as you pay interest on that as well even if you give the car back at the end without paying the balloon.

I appreciate all of the advice above but I can’t see one that replicates my issue. We bought a new car on PCP from Audi, and signed a pre-contract agreement for a payment of £X per month over 3 years, with a GFV of £Y.

When I checked my partner’s bank statement recently, I noticed that we actually pay £X plus about 10%, and the GFV on the agreement when I dug it out (the one sent out after the car had been delivered) is over £2k lower than £Y.

Now, we didn’t sign up for this agreement (I have a copy of the signed agreement with the original figures on).

This has been going on for 19 months now (I know, embarrassing that we didn’t know this). I really don’t trust VW and would like to cancel the contract as I believe they are in breach of it by taking a payment that wasn’t authorised. I can’t do a VT as there is about 6 months’ of payment to go until that point. Equally there is probably about £1-£2k negative equity in the car at trade price that I don’t really want to pay given the issues.

Hi Al. Your chances of cancelling and walking away will be fairly low given that this has been going on for 19 months and you have only just noticed.

You can contact the finance company and ask them to refund the additional monies paid, or credit them against your account, as that is entirely fair. But they are unlikely to accept you using this as an excuse to walk away as you have tacitly accepted the payments by paying up without complaint for over a year and a half.

Myself and wife walked into a main stream dealership yesterday, ended up being persuaded, I did feel quite pressured, to purchase a different car to the one we had walked in with the intention of buying. Long story short we put £1,000 deposit down we had to do it that day then and then to get that deal etc.

Signed a few forms (I have no copies of these nor do i know exactly what they were) and they approved finance and ‘ordered’ our car in.

This was about 5.30pm last night. About 6Am this morning i had second thoughts did some digging and found out that the ‘deal’ really wasn’t a deal. To add to this we have had a sudden material change in circumstances (typical) wife is expecting great news but our income will drop substantially.

I contacted the dealership, left 2 voicemails, sent multiple emails. Am told the manager will call me tomorrow, but i’m going on holiday aswell, so will be difficult to look into/ pursue and i really just want a quick resolution.

Will I be able to cancel the purchase and claim back my £1,000? My bank says the funds are yet to clear and are able to issue a claim back over them. Since non of the paperwork I have specifically mention losing the deposit in the event of cancellation, I have very little other than a terms and condition form and some other general information about the car (I actually had to ask what exact car i had ordered)

I am yet to sign the final finance agreements as, the exact car has to be ordered confirmed etc…

Hi Scott. You are probably not entitled to your £1,000 back if you have changed your mind, although if you complain to the dealer principal about the company’s sales tactics then they may eventually redund you the money.

Hi stuart ..im making query regarding a car we got on pcp and if wee can return it due to different circumstances ..we picked car up on friday 17th feb ..however since then iv split with my partner amd she said she cannot afford the car solely..she contacted the garage who said she cant return the car and the finance company said she aint on there system yet ..my partner was under the impression that there was a cooling off period to return the vehicle whether with or without a fee
Thanks for your time.

In Nov last year, I took finance out on a used car, but at the time, the old car I had, had some serious negative equity due to the previous dealers adding on some un-needed warranties, high interest rates and high depreciation of the vehicle.
I had some unexpected news, and will be moving out of the country, and will not be able to afford the payment on this car. Do you know what options will be available to me? Can I hand the car back to the finance company and ask them to re-structure a finance package for me at the lowest rate possible to pay back the outstanding finance after they deduct what the car is worth that I hand back?

Hi Andy. You can certainly contact the finance company and discuss your options with them, but they are not obliged to do anything to help you out. You won’t be able to hand back the car to the finance company unless you are in a position to voluntarily terminate the agreement (which is unlikely if you are only a few months in).
You will probably need to sell the car yourself, and take out a loan to cover the negative equity which you will inevitably have. For more information, have a read of our article about settling your finance agreement early.

Hi Stewart i have signed a credit agreement and purchase order on a new polo its a pcp hire , my old car finance has been added to the new car loan . I now feel I have made a mistake and i am still within the 14 day cooling off period. If i cancel the credit it says there will be a 10 k fee , i have not picked the car up yet so i was wondering if there is a way of getting out of the deal and keeping my original car , i feel really foolish and suspect there is no way out of it now .

Hi Sophie. If you cancel the finance within the 14-day cooling-off period, they can’t charge you a fee. However, that doesn’t cancel the vehicle purchase and you will simply be invoiced for the amount financed.

You can try cancelling the vehicle order, but the dealer will almost certainly be uncooperative and may have already registered the new car in your name. They will also almost certainly want to keep your deposit, if you have paid one.

Hi Stewart,
Can you give me advice.
I signed a finance agreement PCP on Wednesday 1st. I took possession of the car today. It is the same make and model as the car i exchanged so I was expecting the same ride. However, it is awful. It is very noisy and gives a very bumpy ride. My 2013 Touran (came to end of PCP) was so much better. Can i go back to the dealership and simply say i could n’t bear to have this car for another 4 years and i want my old one back!

Need some advice. Today I picked up my
Car on pcp agreement. On arrival the car was not as advertised on the website. I was told there was an error on the website that stated additional features the car did not have. I felt under pressure to take as the car as it was already sitting waiting for me but I made it clear I wasn’t happy it was not as specified. After getting home I have changed my mind and no longer want the car. We’re do I stand with this. It’s a brand new car and I paid an 900 pound depsosit. Can I cancel the pcp and return the car without fault?

Hi Jennifer. If the car is not as advertised, then you have the right to reject it. It is more complicated and time-consuming than if you had refused to take delivery of the vehicle in the first place, but that does affect your legal right.

You will need to work in conjunction with the finance company, as the car belongs to them and not you. And the dealer will probably not be especially cooperative. But you should be able to get a full refund and the PCP cancelled.

Hi Luke. Unfortunately there is no provision in your finance agreement for not being able to pay your monthly fees for any reason, whether it be work or personal circumstances. When you take on a finance agreement, you are committing to pay the monthly amount regardless of your circumstances.

You can contact the finance company and ask them if it possible to restructure the agreement, but the answer is usually “no”.

Depending on how much you owe and your car’s value, you may be able to settle your agreement early without losing too much money. Or you may be able to execute a voluntary termination, but if you only started the finance last year then this is unlikely.

Hi, i have an Audi a5 on PCP, car is 26 months old I took it at 13 months with 7,000 miles and have done 5000 miles in 13 months whilst driving the clutch stuck down and now Audi are charging me 495 to inspect the clutch and saying it’s likely I or the previous owner have been riding the clutch so I will be looking at 1,500 for a new one.

2 things I was told the vehicle came with a 12-month warranty and a 3 year manufacturers warranty so surely a clutch doing only 12k miles should be covered.

Secondly if I have a 4 year PCP @ 250pm and have paid 13 payments will i be liable to 11×250 to hit my 50% and be able to cancel the lease and would i still be liable to the repairs and inspection cost? I have been driving Audis for 10 years and never had a riding clutch problem so I’m fairly confident I’ve not started riding the clutch in the last 12 months..

Hi Matt. A clutch is a wear and tear item, so it is normal for a dealer to advise you that you would need to pay for an inspection up front. If it is determined to be a fault covered under the new car warranty, your inspection fee would be refunded. Inspecting the clutch is not a five-minute job, so a dealer is entitled to charge for the time taken to open up the gearbox and inspect it.

If you have a four-year PCP, you will be nowhere near your 50% VT amount (would probably hit it at about 36 months, depending on the balloon/GMFV value). And even if you were, the car would need to be driveable and in good condition when you VT it – and a non-operational clutch would not meet that requirement.

Hi I took out finance a few weeks ago on a Vauxhall Astra not paid 1st payment yet but the finance company are going bust and car company has cancelled the agreement and sign with another finance company can I return car and walk away

Hi,
on the 25th i went to the VW garage and signed an order form for a vehicle (new golf) and i realise that this is not the best option for me, i have a VW in as part exchange on PCP and this new car (golf) is also going to be on PCP, i only put down £100 deposit, i am ringing up to cancel this order and wondering what advice you would have for this situation, i am aware i won’t get the deposit back but i am wondering if they will cancel the order as the car wasn’t ordered from factory but was in transit to be in the garages stock.

We are looking at taking a PCP through Audi, trading in our current car, using the equity as a deposit, with discount and dealer finance contribution.

The financed value is £28k with a GFV of £17k in 4 years time.
We would like to use other funds to pay off the £11k, but maintain the duration of the finance and tackle the balloon in 4 years time.
Is there any issue with doing that and making an overpayment on the PCP, such that the monthly payment becomes zero?

You will need to ask the finance company what they allow you to overpay. Every finance company has its own policy on what is allowed and whether there any fees for overpayments.

In theory, what you are asking for is possible. But I don’t know whether the finance company you are using would allow it. Most Audi dealers will use Audi Finance (ultimately Volkswagen Bank), but usually have other providers available as well. You will need to discuss your plans with the dealer and probably the finance company.

I’m looking for some advice for a friend of mine, she bought a car back in 2015 that she thought was HP, but now it turns out it is actually PCP. She said that the salesman was new aqnd he didn’t explain that she wouldn’t actually own the car.

hi i currently have a car from Volkswagen finance which i have had for 2 years and i had a different car before this one for 3 years. i have a year left on the contract but a family member has become ill and i need to go and look after them abroad and my flight leaves in 3 weeks!!??? can i give the car back ? HELP!

Hi there,
Last week I part exchanged a car at BMW, and got a new one on PCP, all wrapped in the deal. I have now realised that the APR is pretty high. Is there anything I can do to get this down now during the “cooling off” period if there is such a thing? Thanks very much.

Hi Mickey. If you have already taken delivery of your new car, then there’s not much you can do. You can cancel the finance agreement, but that doesn’t cancel the vehicle purchase so the finance company will simply invoice you for the total amount borrowed.

We need some urgent PCP assistance please! We want to cancel our PCP agreement that we signed a few days ago, we haven’t actually had the car yet. What can we do?

I took my mum to look at a car on Friday and she really liked it, with an agreed payment of £159 a month. Although she really really wanted the red but we were told it was over £200 a month which was way over my mums budget. So we signed the agreement on the silver one.

However when I went home after looking online for any accessories we may need to buy to connect her phone up to it, I came across a wealth of forum posts of owners complaining that the media system was faulty, this included skipping issues with bluetooth audio and skipping problems with the steering wheel controls. It seems the manufacturer failed to fix the issue and changed the hardware in the next car facelift. This would be a problem for us and we feel it is unfit for purpose.

As well as this, my mum called me the day after crying on the phone because she really wanted the red and wants to pay a little more for the red, as long as its under £200. The red was newer too.

I contacted the dealer by email to complain about the faults with the audio system but had no reply. My mum also called the dealer to explain that she wanted the red and just wasn’t sure about the silver, and the dealer said they would hunt down a good deal on the red instead to change it. He said the car hasn’t had its prep yet and we can assume collection date is Wednesday instead.

Today (Monday) we were given a quote of £199 which apparently was very good for the car, my mum said ok but she needs to contact me first. I told its too expensive and its going to cause her financial problems, so I called the dealer to explain, but things have gone downhill from there.

The dealer’s attitude changed when we talked about cancelling the agreement, telling us that we can’t, constantly repeating we have recorded calls of you telling me you want a red car for £200 or under, etc, leaving us both very distressed. We want to now cancel the whole agreement and not pick up the car, and move on to a different dealer, not just because my mum really doesn’t like the car, but because there are audio faults, they cannot offer us another car that we like without problems and in budget, and their customer service has been very poor.

Can anyone please advise us as we are frightened that we are going to be left with a car for at least 4 years that we don’t want that also has problems, from a horrible dealer. I’ve had no sleep over this!

Also its worth noting that our deposit for the car was part ex, which we still own and use. They haven’t even inspected it yet.

I was also thinking that surely the finance agreement hasn’t been set yet as he is offering us a totally different car at a different price? Surely if he can do this, they havn’t received our car as deposit, nor have we collected the car, then we are able to cancel the contract at this stage?

Firstly, until you sign a new contract for another car, the dealer is highly unlikely to cancel the contract on the first car. That’s normal.

Secondly, I’m not surprised that the dealer is fed up with you. From your own description, you have given them pretty clear instructions on what you want and have now changed your mind. There is no legal right to change your mind on the car purchase – you can cancel your finance agreement but that doesn’t cancel the vehicle purchase, as they are two separate agreements.

Dealers have heard every kind of sob story from customers who suffer buyer’s remorse after signing a new car order, and you have offered no reason as to why the legally-binding contract you signed should be declared invalid.

I’m hoping you are able to shed some light on the following situation. We looked online and saw a used car at a dealer. I called them to ask if it was still available, and he said yet. If you pay 250£ we can hold the car and you can come around and have a look. So I paid the £250 over the phone. We went there the same day, signed the agreement (PCP) – please note nor over the phone or during the conversation when signing the finance was mentioned the £250 deposit was non refundable.
On the finance paperwork it does sate Deposit 250. Anyway, that night we changed our mind for various reasons and the next morning, I asked the cancel the agreement and return the deposit.
The dealer, now states – no this deposit is non refundable. My argument is, this was never mentioned. Do I have any grounds to get my deposit back? this looks to me like misleading information! Please advise….

Hi Howard. Given that you’ve had the car for nearly two years (and about 18 months since purchase), it is very difficult to argue that the car was faulty from new unless you have clear and irrefutable proof.

If you do, then you will probably need to consult a lawyer to help you build a case for rejecting the car. The Consumer Rights Act only really covers the first six months of ownership.

The PCP doesn’t really change your rights compared to a cash buyer, but it can make any rejection process more complicated as there is more to untangle.

I am hoping you would be able to help us as we are in quite a difficult situation.

My wife and I moved to the UK last year and she has just found out that she has lost a job. Due to this we would have to leave the country as it was an inter company transfer visa. We have a four year PCP contract out of which we have only paid 1 year. What options do I have to give back the car and stop any payments from here on?

The settlement amount I would think would be huge and we cannot afford to buy and then sell the car at this stage.

Hi Jas. There is no provision in your contract for losing your job or leaving the country. You will be liable for the negative equity between what your car is worth and what you still owe the finance company.

Hi, I recently purchased a golf of PCP through VW the sale price was £13500 and I put a £1000 deposit on. The rushed me through my paper work and told my monthly payments and how long my term was. I signed it and I’ve just read through it all and the agreement states the car is £16000 and after my balloon payment, I will have been paying £22000!!! And that the term is 4 years, not the verbal agreed 3! I feel like I have been massively scammed and I’m 21 days in and I don’t know what to do as I’m 22 and can’t afford this!

Hi Stuart,
Please can you give me your best advice ASAP?. My husband recently purchased an Audi A5 we wished to pay cash for it & made an offer which was rejected. The dealership pressured him to use PCP saying we could have 2 free services, also suggested we cancel the agreement within 13 days which we did by Bank Transfer. They are now demanding £46 in interest. He didn’t have time to read the contract before signing. Is this legal? They are being difficult over this as I am the one who oversees our finances. He is deaf & they won’t deal with my calls unless I am added to the original contract. What rights do I have to all this please? Thank you. Sandra Hobbs

Hi Sandra. I recommend checking the forum at legalbeagles.info, as they will be able to advise on the legality. I was under the impression that the finance company can’t charge you interest if you withdraw during the cooling-off period. They certainly can’t charge you any fees. I would have thought that your husband could also designate you to speak on his behalf, but again I’d check with the experts at legalbeagles.info

You should also get confirmation of your two free services from the dealership before cancelling the finance agreement. It’s not unusual for dealers to magically cancel those if you cancel the finance.

Hi Stuart, I wonder if you can help. I will try to be as brief as possible:

After having to write a complaint to the garage due to the way the salesman had handled my purchase my car arrived on 7th of this month. On 9th I realised I could not access Sat Nav. Upon enquiring I was told that the salesman had removed the SatNav option in order to reach my desired monthly fee – but had neglected to mention this at any point. I asked him to prepare all documents so I could sign and leave as I am pushed for time on weekdays – now I realise just how much of an error this was as there is nothing aside from my own notes to say I ever asked for SatNav, though it was one of the main requirements for the car.

Since receiving the car and a number of emails from the sales manager implying I am of considerably low intelligence (“you probably got confused and thought because your car has a touch screen that this means it has sat nav” – not the case) I really do not feel right about the purchase and I feel like the vehicle has been mis-sold to me. As I am within 14 days of purchase am I able to essentially undo the purchase (less my deposit)? Or am I still liable for the full cost of the vehicle and lumbered with it for the next 4 years?

Frankly even if the car was of the spec I required, I do not feel comfortable returning to the dealers each time I need a service etc. I know that ‘feeling conned’ is not a good reason for cancellation and not knowing what to look for within the contract documents has been zero help, I am just hoping there may be a way out somehow!

Hi Ellie. It does sound like they are a basket of deplorables, but unless you have some kind of written evidence that you wanted satnav it will be difficult to win an argument with them or prove that you have been mis-sold.

You don’t have a 14-day cooling-off period for the vehicle purchase, but you do for the finance. In practice, this is rather pointless because cancelling the finance agreement will result in the finance company sending you an invoice for the vehicle (and you probably don’t have the money to pay that, which is why you financed it in the first place!).

Your best bet is probably a complaint to the manufacturer’s head office about their franchise’s sales practices. Probably won’t help (again, you probably don’t have any written evidence), but they may be able to offer you a reduced price on having the satnav fitted or something.

As for servicing, you don’t need to go back to that dealership. If you have a PCP or lease and intend to give the car back at the end of the four years, you do need to have it serviced by an official dealership, but it can be any dealership if you have a reasonably-convenient alternative.

My partner and I have visited a local garage and I have signed a vehicle order for for a Fiat 500C. This is to be on PCP. The form was signed nearly three weeks ago but we are having second doubts about whether we can afford the payments. What is the best way of cancelling the agreements with the dealer/ finance company and could we ask for the £500 deposit back, less any reasonable charges?

Hi Oliver. If you haven’t taken delivery of the car, then you should be able to cancel it. The dealer may well keep your deposit, but there’s not a lot else they can do. For more information, have a read of this article:

Nissan finance lost 2 payments I provided them all the information needed to prove they had been sent but they stopped looking and refused to cooperate gave us a deadline of 24 hours to pay outstanding balence of over 1000, we had made a payment of 390 before that and agin the payment had not been allocated to the account we asked for extra time for the payment made only 1 day ago to be allocated and we would pay the remainder outsatanding and continue to search for the missing payments but was told no that is the deadline then the office closed we contacted them the next day to check the account and resolve the issue and was told the agreement has been terminated you missed the deadline.

What happens now I am going to the complaints department as they still have the 2 missing payment according to the bank but can they take the car if so what document do I need to receive first

I have a PCP deal with GMAC and have 7 payments left to make. I phoned to terminate the agreement early and they said they will send me a pack out to sign and send back before they can collect the vehicle. Is this correct? I thought i could just send an email with the termination letter template and this would be enough to terminate the agreement with them? Jus a bit dubious of signing something they send me.

Hi Tony. NO, you do not need to fill in GMAC’s pack, and doing so may actually affect your consumer rights. Once you formally terminate the agreement (ie – in writing rather than on the phone), it is terminated.

Hi
I am thinking of taking out PCP for a used VW Golf as this way they are offering me 2 free services and then paying it off within the 14 day cooling off period and have been assured that I will still be able to keep the free services. I did the same a few years ago but was then told that I would have to make at least 2 months payments before being able to pay off the amount and keep the servicing. Anyone done this recently. Thanks

Hi David. It all depends on whether a) the contract says anything about the finance agreement still being in place when the service is due, and b) how efficiently the finance/sales people communicate with the service people who set up the free servicing agreements.

The “cancel after two months” thing is a lie. That is simply because if you cancel before that, the dealer and the salespeople won’t get paid their commission on selling you finance. You can cancel anytime, and it’s better if you do it within the first 14 days.

Just a quick question I am in the process of buying a car through Evans halshaw
Taking out pcp finance I habe paid
A deposit of £1000 to allow then to go ahead and to get the finance I am happy with all the figures however I have a bad credit score I believe I will only get approved credit at a higher lending rate Evans halshaw have said my price will be guaranteed to be what they have offered and which I have put the deposit down as agreeing too. My question is if I pass fiance approval but the rate is higher which will change my payments am I withing my rights to withdraw and receive a full refund of my deposit the salesman out right said I am but I am unsure after reading into this more.

Hi Nathan. Never rely on verbal assurances, always get them in writing. Right now, you have no proof that you are entitled to cancel the purchase if the finance offer is not as favourable as you would like.

I am just about to buy a new Mazda CX5 from a Mazda Dealership. They have told me that I would get £500 off the price on the forecourt but only IF I sign up for Mazda Finance, which when pressed is actually PCP. The salesman says it’s to promote their finance and presumably the dealership get a bung?
I don’t want finance or PCP but the salesman has assured me that IF I take and am accepted for the PCP I will only have to pay the first month’s payment (inc interest?) from the £17,000 and then I can phone Mazda and cancel the PCP and pay off the outstanding amount.
I am worried that Mazda won’t allow me to cancel and if they do it won’t be just the residue left to pay from the £17,000 less one month’s payment it will incur some penalty fee or cancellation fee? The salesman has assured me there is NO penalty or set up fee’s. If this is right what is the incentive for Mazda to lend me this money??
Please advise, it’s so stressful as I don’t understand PCP.
At one time anyone paying cash got the best deal !

I have had a Ford Focus since November 2015. I got the car on a pcp deal. My finances have recently changed. My pcp is ending in November 2018. I have contacted my finance company about terminating my contract. The asked me about the miles on my car which i have exceeded by 2000. Now they asking me to pay extra £1400 for exceeding the agreed mileage. So my question is, how would I go about this? Do I have to pay that. The car is in good condition.

Hi Abdul. Excess mileage is a contentious area, but the majority legal opinion seems to be that the finance company can’t enforce any excess mileage charges when you VT a car. For more information, have a read of our guide to voluntary termination.

I have recently purchased a new car and taken out a Skoda Finance PCP agreement. I am within the 14 days cooling off period.
I want to exercise my right to withdraw, but I’d like to finance the settlement payment via 5k on a 0% Purchase Credit Card and the remaining balance via balance transfer. Skoda Finance have stated that its not possible to split the payments like this (reason given is that it would be difficult for them to do). As this is not possible do you think I could make a partial early payment (5k on the Credit Card) and then exercise my right to withdraw and pay the balance via bank transfer. I aim to complete all the transactions within the 14 days. Do you think making a partial payment would mean the right to withdraw would no longer be possible? Thanks

Hi Pat. When you exercise your right to withdraw from the finance agreement within the cooling-off period, the finance company should send you an invoice for the amount payable (which should be the amount borrowed + a few days’ worth of interest). You should have 28 days to pay this.

As long as it’s paid, I don’t think they have the right to tell you how to pay it.

As for making an early payment and then withdrawing, I’m not sure how that would work out. Never come across that before. In theory, anything you have paid should be refunded or taken off the balance owing. However, it may be that the finance company refunds your £5K back to your credit card and then bills you for the full amount.

Update – I contacted Skoda Finance to withdraw and asked if I could pay 5k on credit card and the remaining via bank transfer. They said they can’t do it. When I quizzed them on the reason they said “its just not possible”. I pushed for the agent to double check with the manager one last time and although he was very friendly still no luck. The options given were “You can pay the full balance on the credit card or the full balance via bank transfer or multiple payments from the same bank if there is a problem with the limit” Have a got reason to pursue this anymore or just pay via account and loose the 5k interest free? (about £250 by my reckoning @ 3.3%)

Hi I took out a pcp finance From Ford last year but am looking to get a new car on finance but a different make, I made a deposit of £1500 on my car which took the price down to 7500 left to pay over 3 years with a Blume payment, I have payed 1 years worth on finance at £140 a month so am wondering if I can go back to ford and cancel my finance then go and finance the new car I want but is there more than likely going to be a set element figure or can I walk away? Thanks

Hi Toby. You are free to buy your next car from wherever you like, but you will have to settle your current finance agreement as part of any part-exchange agreement. If you still owe the finance company more than your car is worth (which is likely), then you will have to cover that difference.

If your settlement figure to the finance company is less than the car is worth (which is less likely), then you get to keep the difference and can use it towards your next car.

You are unlikely to be able to give the car back and walk away (which is called voluntary termination) if you are only a year into your PCP agreement, as you won’t have paid anywhere near enough to get you to the VT point. For more information, have a read of our article about voluntary termination.

I am after some advice. I ordered a new Factory made BMW in November 2017 on PCP which is due to be ready in March 2018. I used carwow to find the best offer and then negotiated with a dealer across the other side of the country via email & on the phone. I have paid a £1000 deposit.

I have just found out my job may not be as secure as I thought and no longer want to enter a 4 year PCP agreement. I have been accepted for PCP but not physically signed anything. I have received an electronic precontract document which they have typed my name in the signature box. I then responded to this email confirming I was willing to go ahead with the order. I am hoping I have rights under the distance selling act to not only cancel the car but to get my deposit back? Any advise would be great. Thank you

I bought a car in June 2016 on a pcp deal , in March 2017. The passenger door trims had to be replaced because of damage caused by rubbing between the passenger door and the rear door damaging the trims to the bare metal, in October 2017 the same happened again , now in February just within the last 2 days the problem has re occurred again ,plus in October the boot seal was replaced due to a known issue , now some 4 months later the boot still won’t close without having to use excessive force to close it , because the new seal is thicker . This car seems to be nothing but a pain . Do I have any form of recourse to reject the car as not fit for purpose this far into my 4yr pcp agreement

Hi Paul. As annoying as it is, it doesn’t sounds like it is something that would render the whole car faulty, so it’s probably not going to be easy to reject the car under the Consumer Rights Act. You’ve also had it for more than 18 months now, so arguing that it’s not fit for purpose will be difficult.

Hi Stuart. On February 9th I took delivery of a Renault Kadjar financed by a PCP agreement. I want to withdraw from this agreement within the 14 day limit. The deal for the car included 2 free services. The dealer seems to think that because the service plan is part of the financed deal it Will not be honoured if I withdraw from the agreement, although I am not convinced. I spoke to the finance company representative and she was “Not sure” Where do I stand on this

3 days ago I signed a PCP agreement with Skoda and paid a deposit for a new car for delivery in July. I have now changed my mind and would like to withdraw from this agreement, can I do so within the 14 day cooling off period?

Hi Charlie. Yes, you can withdraw from your finance agreement. However, be aware that this does not automatically cancel your new car purchase, so you will need to come to an agreement with the dealership about that. They may try to hold you to your contract or keep your deposit if they allow you to cancel.

Hi
I took out a PCP in July 2015 for 3 years. Cost of vehicle was £19921.00, I paid £2480.23 of a deposit and have monthly payment of £288.58 monthly (the 1st payment was August ’15). Total credit 17440.77 with final payment of £11200.00, so borrowed £6240.77. I am now 32 months into this agreement, can anyone with a good head for calculations tell me when I can voluntary terminate the contract? The ‘Total Amount Payable’ figure on the contract is £24079.11, but if I reduce this to 50%, I should still be making payments at my completion date. Help!!

five days ago i have took a car on pcp from big motoring world and the finance from black horse. I have lost my job just 2 days after and i would now struggle to make the monthly installments.
Is there any way to widthrow from the fianace and the agrement with big motoring world ?
is it possbile to give the car back and loss the deposit ? is it possible to cancell the finance and give the car to black horse as i cannot sell it because its on PCP ?v

I signed a “vehicle order and agreement” back in January for a new car and paid £1000 deposit towards it. I simply signed it, scanned it and e-mailed it back to the dealer, never visited them (finance comes from them too). Car delivery is expected first week of April. I don’t have any finance signed yet or I haven’t signed any other documents. Am I still in the cooling off period and can I cancel this agreement? What wording should I use and what consequences should I expect if I cancel?

The dealer won’t like it very much and may try to fight it, but it’s your legal right to cancel the contract until 14 days after taking delivery of the car. If you haven’t signed a finance agrement, there’s no need to worry about a cooling-off period as you haven’t got a contract in place.

Hi i am a year into a PCP Agreement however i am changing jobs and will not be earning the money needed to pay for my car, i was wondering if i could hand back my car and if i would have to pay a lot of money to do that? I checked my purchase declaration for pricing and terms and conditions, and looked at my latest statement from the company yet the opening balance on my statement is higher than any money seen on my purchase declaration.

Like other people on this feed I have taken a PCP and I approached them about cancelling it. I know I can cancel my PCP agreement with no explanation in my first 14days, however like other people the dealership have told me that this doesn’t cover the purchase of the car.

How can I get out of the purchase of the car? is the only way to basically pay the full amount in cash and then sell it on? Or is it depending on the exact contact for the car I signed I can’t get the deanship to buy the car?

This seems like a big grey area as when you take out the PCP the lease company have agreed to own that car on your behalf, so with the 14day agreement you should have no strings attached?!! otherwise why put that clause in there at all

Hi Catherine. Using a PCP or HP to buy a car requires two separate contracts:
– the vehicle purchase order that you sign with the dealer
– the finance agreement that you sign with the finance company (usually facilitated by the dealer but a separate company)

Cancelling the finance agreement simply means that you no longer want to use the finance company to pay for the car. It may be that you want to pay cash, or you have decided to finance the vehicle through another company.

It gets confusing because the dealerships all push to sell the car via their associated finance company because they get commission on the finance as well as on the car. If you borrow the money from the bank, or pay cash, they only get commission on the car sale and nothing for selling you finance.

All finance contracts have a 14-day cooling-off period – it’s required by law. Car sales contracts usually have no such cooling-off period unless bought online/over the phone rather than on the dealer’s premises.

Hi, hoping someone can help – looking for advise on my wife’s PCP VW Polo.
We’ve had it less than 3 months and have received a recall notice based on a fault with the rear seat belt design. They do not yet have a permanent solution and we now cannot use the middle rear seat and left rear seat at the same time without significant risk to passengers. It seems this was a known issue, so they sold it to us knowing the design was faulty. In my opinion the car is not fit for purpose as a 5 seat vehicle. Can we reject the car (less than 6 months) based on this issue?
thanks,
Emmet

Hi,
I’ve recently got a car on a PCP plan. I had the car for three weeks and it broke down. It was a problem with the gear box. The company have now had the car for 11 days and I got called today and they said it needs more ok doing to it as its still not right. Do I have any rights to give the car back?

Hi Stuart
I was due to collect my car but had to postpone the collection due to a “dealer fitted” accessory not being delivered on time. As a result, I’ll have to collect it much later after the part arrives. Because I was already supposed to have collected it, the finance is already active and the balance has been paid in full to the dealer, including that of the accessory. Due to a recent change in financial circumstances, I wish to cancel my credit agreement within the 14 day period. I have already received the V5C so would effectively own the car after the finance is settled. Really, the car would just be in the dealer awaiting an accessory to be fitted. Question is when the dealer finds out the finance is canceled, will they have any power to withhold my car and demand I pay back the finance deposit contribution and/or withhold the accessory I ordered? There is nothing in the order form about having to pay back the contribution (it just says it’s FOC). The payment of the accessories is documented by the dealer. Appreciate your opinion. M.

Hi, just yesterday i have taken a PCP agreement (not signed anything i dont think as this was applied for after we left the dealership) with Audi for a 3 year old car for my husband. I am now having second thoughts having worked through the numbers and would prefer to cancel and go with my own personal loan. Can i do this? I could literally call in the morning to Audi and tell them. I know i would not get the 2 free services but not worried about that.
Alternatively i have some money that will mature in January 2020 so could continue as i am with PCP and then ask for a settlement in January and pay it all off, thus keeping the services however i am worried the amount i will need to pay it off may be ridiculous although they assured me it would not be at the dealership. Can you advise on both please?

Hoping you can help. After seeing an Audi a couple of weeks ago, yesterday I agreed to the PCP contract over the phone. Handing over a £1,500 deposit. I have yet to sign the contract and I’m worried I’ve been forced into it. My main concern is that I’m paying the Audi garage £3k more than it’s worth. Can I still get my money back?

Hi,
I placed a deposit for a car over the weekend and the total outstanding deposit was 7000k. I made a bank transfer of 3k and hoped to pay the rest of the deposit with my credit card(yet to be done)

The dealer send me the finance document online and I electronically signed. I’ve since reflected and do not want to go on a pcp plan as it’s too expensive. The remainder of deposit still needs to be paid.
I am allowed to cancel the deal and get a refund on deposit I paid

Hi,
I bought a car on PCP almost 3 years ago. I am now exchanging it for another car model (same dealers). I paid a deposit on my new model. The dealer can give me £6000 (for my old car as a deposit on my new model. I have signed for my new model that arrives in a few days & I have to return my older model. A family member wants to buy my older model. Can I negotiate something with the dealer before he puts it in his saleroom? I still want my newer model on PCP.

As part of your new vehicle purchase, you will have agreed to sell your existing car to the dealer. You can ask them if you can pull that out of the deal, but they are not under any obligation to agree to it.

Hi,
My partner and I purchased a car 2 days ago. The car had some dents and scratches, but a dealer promised us that the car will be fully repaired in 5 days time. Then, discussing a financial agreement, the salesmen tried to convince us to take “dealers extras”: various insurance options to cover the vehicle and myself, the owner. I stated that I do not wish to take any “extras”, as it was optional. However, all them “extra premiums” were included in contract, and I was charged £1000. My fault was, that I had not noticed extra charges and signed, despite my wish not to take them. Then I received email with information about premium, smart covers and all sorts of insurances saying if I wish to cancel, I have a cooling-off period of 30 days with a full refund. The question is : who is responsible to cancel the premium insurance- the car retailer or the car dealer insurance company. What rights do I have, in a case if they would not agree to cancel it or refund me. Are there legal actions I can start with? Thank you.

Hi I’m in desperate need of help i financed a car which was around 12800. I’m 3days into my agreement but i want to cancel my contract within the 14day cool down period however the company has told me i need to pay the value of the car but not the interest. Are they correct or or do I need to peruse this because u really dont want the car

I signed up for a PCH deal with a Leasing Company in August for delivery of a new car and had been given an expected delivery date of 23/12/19, this later slipped to 10/01/2020 and now the its not expected until at least February 2020. I have confirmed with the manufacturer that the car has not even started to be built yet and due to factory issues there is no update on when it may be built. The Leasing company wish me to pay 3% of the P11D value for cancellation but as the car has not even been built yet i can’t see how they have any loss. I have not paid any monies to the finance company or due to until delivery of the vehicle but did sign the finance papers electronically.

Hi. I am not sure if you ever got an answer with this but I’d like to help. As with many people I talk to, you have (if you don’t mind me saying so) slightly misunderstood the way a PCP works. You have stated that you have borrowed the difference between the final value and the amount less deposit. Actually, you have borrowed the total amount less your initial deposit and you also pay interest on the WHOLE amount too. Therefore, to calculate when you will reach your VT point you simply take the TOTAL amount, including any deposit paid, divide this by 2, subtract your initial deposit and then divide what’s left by your monthly payment. This will then tell you after how many months you will have reached the “VT 50% point”. I hope this helps!

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